Where Donovan Mitchell finds his drive: His grandmother's kitchen

Every Sunday, he’d watch his mother, and his grandmother, prepare the coconut. He’d watch how precisely, how intensely, they’d shave each piece with a grater for arroz con gandules, rice and pigeon peas, the Panamanian version, one of his grandmother’s best dishes. A nod to their heritage. His grandmother never wrote down the recipe; never needed to.Advertisement