LAST OCTOBER, BEFORE the start of the 2024-2025 season, Donovan Mitchell partnered with Skims to model the lifestyle brand’s sleek, active underwear. This campaign featured the Cleveland Cavaliers’ All-Star guard chilling in the locker room, geared up in Skims boxer briefs, anticipating the season’s first tip-off. Even in the photos, there was a sense of restlessness to get back to the court.
“The first campaign with Skims was a great experience, shooting at the arena right before the season started, I was just gearing up to get to work,” Mitchell tells Men’s Health. Today, the 2023 All-NBA guard reunited with Skims to promote the brand’s Stretch and Cotton collections ahead of the playoffs. This time, he switched into game mode, and was photographed rocking the underwear under a hoop and shooting his shots.
SHOP SKIMS COTTON AND STRETCH UNDERWEAR
“The difference this time is the timing—it aligns with the biggest stretch of our season, so the energy feels more focused and in the moment,” he says. “I’m locked in for the postseason, and Skims is locked in with me.”
The NBA named Skims its official underwear partner (yes, that’s a thing) in 2023, a bold move for both, but understandable given Skims’ gear. The brand’s Stretch and Cotton line features boxers and briefs that offer the comfort of loungewear with the flexibility of activewear. As Mitchell puts it, these undies are his secret weapon. “Comfort is everything—especially in the playoffs when your body’s going through it,” he says. “The Skims Cotton and Stretch collections are part of that routine now. It helps me stay comfortable and focused, even during the most intense parts of the season.”
The All-Star’s favorite: the Cotton and Stretch 5” Boxers, which move like a second skin and keep up with his signature acrobatic moves at the basket. “For me, it’s all about being comfortable, which means I need gear that stays in place and doesn’t get in the way while I’m driving to the basket or defending,” he says. “If I’m adjusting gear mid-game or feeling restricted, that’s a distraction. Skims eliminated all that.”
Mitchell’s Skims collab reflects a years-long saga for Cleveland to return to its winning ways. Before Mitchell was traded to the Cavs in late 2022, Cleveland was not an encouraging place to be a basketball fan. It had been over four years since LeBron James left the city (for the second time) to take his talents to Los Angeles. The Cavs missed the playoffs every season following, and they also had to watch The King raise another banner with the team he left them for (again). In short, Cleveland lost the breakup and was stuck watching stories of their ex’s honeymoon pics on Instagram. Then, Mitchell came to town.
In his first season with the team, he led them to 51 wins and a playoff birth. In his second, a playoff series win. Now, three seasons in, the Cavs finished with the best record in the East and accomplished a few milestones not even LeBron had hit. For the first time in the history of the franchise, the team enjoyed a 16-game winning streak on its way to finishing the season with the second greatest offensive rating (a stat that measures a team’s offensive efficiency by counting the number of points a team scores per 100 possessions) for any team in the history of the NBA.
SHOP SKIMS COTTON AND STRETCH UNDERWEAR
For a team that drafted the greatest player of the last twenty years (and possibly ever), to be putting up historic numbers like this for the first time in franchise history is a monumental feat. But, to be fair, Mitchell and his Cavs had something LeBron never did—comfy, versatile underwear. “We go from shootaround to tip-off to team travel, and having [underwear] that works through it all just simplifies things,” he says. “Skims fits into every part of the day, and that kind of consistency helps keep my focus where it needs to be—on winning.”
This season, Donovan Mitchell has seemingly grabbed the title from LeBron James as the next great Cleveland Cavalier. But this generational passing of the baton has deeper roots than many realize. Despite being a native New Yorker, he grew up loving the Cavs, specifically LeBron, and was even in attendance when James announced he was leaving Cleveland for the first time in 2010 to go to Miami (where he won two championships). “Full circle. I was that kid watching history unfold, and now I’ve got a chance to write a new chapter for this city,” Mitchell says.
So what would it mean to bring a title back to Cleveland, the first ever without James, this season? “Bringing a title back to Cleveland would mean everything,” he says. “This city shows up. They deserve that moment, and we’re grinding to make it happen.”
None of this is to say that Mitchell has severed ties to New York sports. He’s a massive New York Mets fan, the team his father worked for for over 20 years, and frequently attends hometown games during the NBA offseason. This raises an interesting question: If Mitchell and Skims decide to run it back a third time, could the Mets make an appearance in the collab? “That would be a fire collab, those are my guys,” he says. “We’ll see what happens, but you never know—Skims has a way of making big things happen.”
For now, Skims will merely be helping Donovan Mitchell make a championship run happen. Or, at the very least, keep him comfortable through it.
Skims Stretch 5″ Boxer Brief (3-Pack)
Skims Cotton 5″ Boxer Briefs (3-Pack)
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Sean Zucker is the Grooming and Commerce Editor at Men’s Health. He brings over half a decade of experience covering health, wellness, and lifestyle. When Sean’s not writing about hair products, you can find him running for exercise, or toward the nearest food truck.
