CLEVELAND — What makes a hero? If you ask Cavs star Donovan Mitchell, it comes down to selflessness.
Mitchell's description describes 16-year-old Tyler Sowden to a tee.
On March 28, Sowden was at home when he saw smoke coming from a neighboring house and heard cries for help. He jumped into action immediately, grabbing a nearby ladder and running to the home.
Without thinking twice, Sowden set the ladder up and climbed to the roof of the house, helping a mother and her two children, who were 10 months old and 7 years old, off and down to safety.
At the time, Sowden said he might have been a little scared, but hearing the cries of the children pushed him as he successfully rescued them.
"I heard a kid screaming 'Help,' so I looked over. I see him on the roof, and I see the house is on fire. I see all the smoke in the air," Sowden said outside of his home on the day of the fire. "I was scared, but s*** I mean, I don't know. I felt bad for the babies. I'm not going to leave them."
Video was captured of Sowden's heroic efforts, and stories of the rescue quickly went viral.
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That caught the eye of Mitchell, who instantly knew he wanted to use his platform as a Cavs superstar to do something special for the teen. Mitchell has set out to highlight local heroes, previously bringing Cleveland Heights' bus driver Dorian Pace—who rescued children from a bus fire—to a game.
"I definitely want to just give him his credit. I also want him to come to the arena and get the same ovation Dorian [Pace] got because they deserve that. Those are the things that really make people special," Mitchell said at practice earlier in the week.
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On Sunday, Mitchell kept his promise.
Sowden and his family were invited by Mitchell, through his foundation Spida Cares, to attend the game. The group later got to meet with Mitchell for a special moment, but Sowden's real recognition came on the court.
During a timeout, Sowden was brought onto the court and the story of his fire rescue was recounted by the public address announcer to all of Rocket Arena. Sowden stood waving, shown on the Humungotron, as the crowd erupted in cheers for him.
The moment allowed Sowden to receive appreciation from the crowd—appreciation for being a hero.
After the game, Mitchell said that moment was exactly what he hoped to provide to Sowden.
"I was able to see it in the first quarter. Those moments are just so special." Mitchell said. "Obviously, what we do is a game, but that's real life. And for a child to step in and really just do the job of a fireman and to think to do that, to think to have the ladder, go up there, and do that, man, it's special. It takes a lot of bravery, heart, and selflessness.
"Like I said, the biggest thing is just trying to shine a light on the true heroes. And what we do is great, we play basketball for a living. This is highlighting people who continuously do great things in our community and that's just my goal to continue to highlight that because they deserve as much praise as we get on this basketball floor."
