“They Should Cancel It”: Anonymous Cleveland Player Demands Mavs Game Cancellation After Cavs Left Stranded in Miami

In January 2025, the NBA postponed a Bucks-Pelicans game when a historic snowstorm hit New Orleans, then pushed back a Heat-Bucks tip by an hour because Milwaukee had trouble getting home. That is how the league has handled weather-stranded teams before. On Friday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers faced a different kind of disruption, and one player quietly wondered why the league would not do the same.

After a 133-121 loss to the Heat, the Cavaliers were stuck in Miami because of a nationwide FAA ground stop. According to Cleveland.com's Chris Fedor, an anonymous player was getting dressed and trying to figure out whether the team would stay at the same hotel when he mumbled that the revised plan felt like "AAU basketball."

"This is ridiculous," he said. "They should cancel it."

He was not the only one who felt that way. Donovan Mitchell said he would prefer to cancel Saturday's home game against the Mavericks. "This is unprecedented," Mitchell said. "Back-to-back. Three-hour flight. It was already going to be a tough one. But if they say we have to play then we have to play."

Asked directly whether he wanted the NBA to cancel the game, Mitchell answered, "Me, personally, yeah for sure."

The cause was a communications problem affecting air-traffic control, which led the FAA to ground flights nationwide for several hours. Thousands of flights were canceled, and the Cavaliers were among several teams affected.

Cleveland checked out of its hotel earlier in the day, then had to scramble to rebook rooms. Coach Kenny Atkinson said about 90 minutes before tip-off that the staff was still looking for rooms.

The plan that followed was demanding. The Cavaliers stayed in Miami overnight, could not secure a new pilot until Saturday morning, and were set to leave for the airport at 8 a.m. for a 9 a.m. flight. That would put them in Cleveland around noon, about eight hours before the 7:30 p.m. tip at Rocket Arena.

Mitchell was clear about how unusual it felt. "Never in my time in the league," he said when asked whether he had experienced a situation like this before. "I think the craziest travel thing I've ever had was the COVID situation. Make adjustments. Figure it out. Go from there."

The Cavaliers were already playing the second half of a back-to-back, a three-hour flight apart, and they were short-handed. Evan Mobley, Sam Merrill and Nae’Qwan Tomlin were out against Miami, where Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo each scored 37 points. Now they face a game that starts about eight hours after landing.

The team's official response was more measured. "There's no feeling sorry for ourselves," Atkinson said. "It's part of it. You just adapt. We have to get on that plane in the morning and try to go get this next one." Earlier, when asked about the flight, he said, "If not, we will just sleep on the bus."

The NBA has not announced any change. Reports on Saturday morning said the Mavericks game was still scheduled and noted that Cleveland should be able to return in time now that the ground stop has been lifted.

The ground stop was only the second nationwide order since 9/11, according to ABC News, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the resumption of travel would be slow.

The Cavaliers will do what they said they would do: board the plane, land in Cleveland and play. Whether the late arrival affects their performance will be known by Saturday night. Until then, the complaint is a reminder that even a team trying to adapt can still say what it thinks.