CLEVELAND — There are few people in the city of Cleveland with a larger platform than Cavaliers star guard Donovan Mitchell and he wants to use it to highlight the efforts of local community heroes, honoring one man already with plans to do the same for a local teen in the coming days.
Mitchell and his foundation Spidacares hosted Dorian Pace at Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Clippers. Pace is the man who was driving the Cleveland Heights school bus transporting 15 children when the vehicle caught fire and soon burst into flames. Pace took action and was able to get all of the children safely off the bus.
RELATED: Bus driver honored after safely evacuating students from burning bus in Cleveland Heights
During the game Sunday, Pace got the chance to meet with Mitchell and even got an on-court recognition as fans in Rocket Arena gave him a roaring applause.
Honoring heroes is something Mitchell plans to do more frequently, wanting to use his platform for that very reason.
"It takes a lot of selflessness and that's ultimately what being in a community is about, helping the next person that you see," Mitchell said on Tuesday after the team's practice.
After Sunday's game, where Pace was honored, Mitchell put out a call to get in touch with Tyler Sowden, the 16-year-old boy who saved a family from a house fire in Cleveland. Sowden heard a family's cries for help from a nearby home and quickly jumped into action, grabbing a ladder from his house and running toward the flames. He positioned the ladder against the home, where a mother, holding her 10-month-old and 7-year-old, sat on a porch roof, trying to escape. His actions were caught on camera, and they have since gone viral.
RELATED: 'I'm so proud of this kid': Heroic 16-year-old saves Cleveland family from burning home
Mitchell said he asked to connect with Sowden because he wants to highlight his efforts the way he could highlight Pace's efforts Sunday.
"Definitely just wanna highlight the heroes in the community and that young man in itself, just watching the video, it's just like, man, to be able to on the fly just to not think about yourself, to be selfless, to go out there and really not do it for any cameras and just trying to save lives," Mitchell said. "Guys like him, guys like Dorian, those are the real heroes in this community, and with someone like myself and this team, we have a platform and why not highlight their efforts? Because they deserve it."
Mitchell and his team have connected with Sowden and have some special recognition in the works.
That's what it's all about for Mitchell, who was blown away by the heroic nature of the local teen.
"To be a 16-year-old kid, to go out there and find a way to do the job of the firefighters until obviously they showed up, that takes a lot of guts," Mitchell said. "So definitely want to just give him his credit. I also want him to come to the arena and get the same ovation Dorian got because they deserve that. Those are the things that really make people special, and that was great to see."
Donovan Mitchell is using his platform to highlight local heroes.
— Camryn Justice (@camijustice) April 1, 2025
He helped bring Dorian Pace—the CLE Heights bus driver who saved kids from a burning bus—to a game to be recognized on court.
He plans to do the same with 16YO Tyler Sowden who rescued a family from a house fire. pic.twitter.com/rLXjBDZaCB
