The Real Life Diet of Donovan Mitchell, Who Celebrates the End of a Season With Fast Food

This past offseason moved at a different pace for Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell. A bone bruise in his left knee started bothering him, then he suffered a left calf strain that forced him to miss the final two Cavs games against the Celtics in the postseason. So Mitchell took extra time off to fully heal from the wear and tear, hoping that his extended rest this summer leads to a celebratory season.

After signing a three-year, $150.3 million extension this summer, one of Mitchell’s first investments was hiring a full-time chef to ensure that he’s getting fresh-made meals—and managing his gummy bear intake. His affinity for HARIBO classic Goldbears is such that he and the candy brand have collaborated on a sneaker for Adidas. (And they’ve even made him a custom “Spida’s Picks” gummy mix of his own.)

Mitchell caught up with GQ to discuss enjoying treats in moderation, traveling to Panama, and the fast food he uses to close out every season.

For Real-Life Diet, GQ talks to athletes, celebrities, and other high performers about their diet, exercise routines, and pursuit of wellness. Keep in mind that what works for them might not necessarily be healthy for you.

Donovan Mitchell: This was a different summer for me just from a standpoint of, I took longer than normal. I took a long time and I'm glad I did because my body feels great. Sometimes you need the break if you're just going and going—especially with the minutes that I played last year, what I went through physically with the knee and stuff. I wanted to give myself extra time to make sure I was okay.

Yeah, It was. I knew it was going to be lit and I knew it was gonna be crazy, but I didn't know the extent. I really didn't start embracing my Panamanian roots—publicly, at least—until my grandmother passed a few years ago. When I got down there, I was just overwhelmed with the amount of love I got from the minute I landed. It was awesome. It was an amazing experience. I'm going every year now and that's for certain. It was amazing and I had a great time.

The people were great. The food was amazing. The culture, man—it was just a lot of really dope things. I had gone before, not really as a public thing. More like some low-key thing with the fam to spread my grandmother's ashes as she had requested. We went there for about two days, and this one was kind of like a four-day trip and I got to take my time out there. It was amazing.

They have this chicken and steak with chimichurri. It's incredible. I made sure I had it everywhere we went. Obviously, the Spanish rice—like my grandma would make—the plantains, and the typical Spanish foods. You can't go wrong at all.

One of the things I was thankful for during my time in Utah is I was blessed to be able to be around a chef who was really elite at educating us. I give him credit all the time—Chef Anthony Zamora. He's a guy that really made sure we understood what was being put in our body. He was my chef when I was in Utah as well as the team chef.

When I came out to Cleveland, there were trials with different chefs and now I've just hired my full-time chef and wherever I'm at, he’s at. It’s definitely trial and error because you have to figure out what you like and don’t. At the end of the day, you have to eat healthy, but it still has to taste good. I'm not trying to eat cardboard, if you know what I'm saying. It has to taste good. You have to go through the ins and outs to get an understanding. With my guy, now, he's down to the point where he's like, You have this many grams of this, so maybe you have this many fats and this many carbs.

So, then that lets me sprinkle in some Haribo gummy bears or a glass of wine. Just making sure we're planning stuff out so you understand what it looks like. I'm a guy that gains weight fast. So, you got to make sure you're always on top of it because one long road trip and you're eating out at every restaurant for five to seven days, and it affects your play. Especially this summer was huge because I wasn't working out my typical time. So with that inactivity on the court, you can sit around and get big.

Like you said, it keeps the human aspect there. I've gotten better. I used to have about a pack a day when I first got to the league. It’s my favorite candy of all time. If you ask any one of my friends from childhood up until now, they'd say the same thing. Now, Haribo’s making me a special pack of my own. As a kid, that’s a dream and it’s incredible to work with a brand that you’ve been enjoying since you were a kid.

But then also, being able to just chill out, watch some TV, play Xbox, and eat some candy—you have to make sure it's done in moderation, obviously. I'm 28 now, not 20.

I definitely keep it the same, pretty much, every day. I have pancakes, eggs, and bacon. For lunch, I typically do salmon, rice, chicken over a Caesar wrap. And then for dinner, chicken, salmon, baked potatoes, or a fry-type of situation.

I wake up in the morning at about 7:45 and then take about 15 minutes to get dressed. I’ll eat and that takes about another 15 minutes. So by 8:45—and you can probably tell I’m really strict with the time and I don't play—I'm at the facility for shootaround, which starts at 10. We’ll go through shootaround, and get done at about 11. I’ll get in the cold tubs, and do all that stuff, and be at the house by about 12:30. I’ll take a nap from about 1 to 3:30. I’ll wake up and start getting dressed for the game. After that, I’m driving to the arena. At 4:40, I'm on the [trainer’s] table, and by 5:15, I'm off. I’ll eat from about 5:15 to 5:30. Then from 5:30 to 6, I'm getting taped, the weight room, and then I’ll shoot before the game.

Fast food. I do one thing each year, though. Each day after the last game of the season, I go and eat some fast food as a “cheers to another year.” I was a fast-food guy for a while. I didn’t understand diet before I got to the NBA. I’ll get some fast food, a pack of gummy bears, and do that for three to four days. This year, that will be in June. Fast food is definitely the one thing I won’t do during the season.

McDonald's. The chicken nuggets, french fries, and a milkshake. I don't count Chick-fil-A as fast food.