Getty Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade
Some see similarities in style of play between Utah Jazz rising star Donovan Mitchell and Miami Heat icon, Dwyane Wade.
Wade see it himself and last month tweeted that Mitchell is in fact, becoming a superstar.
@DwyaneWade @spidadmitchell You called it when you said, “I wish I was that good at his age”
I wish I was that good that young,” Wade once told NBA TV’s Chris Miles.
“That kid, he’s special. I think that he’s a great defender as well; a lot of people don’t really talk about that. But the one thing is, that kid reached out to me this summer and you know how it is these days, everybody texts. We were on the phone for two hours. He just picked my brain; he had a lot of quetions from my first year to my second year about the job and what I was looking at, what I was looking forward to; all kind of stuff, man. He’s hungry, he’s hungry for success.”
Is the comparison valid?
“Yeah,” Jazz teammate, Emmanuel Mudiay told me on the Heavy Live With Scoop B Show.
Mudiay appeared on the show along with his brother, Jean-Michel Mudiay while promoting his nonprofit Emmanuel Mudiay Foundation, which focuses on the uplifting single parents and children and feeding communities across the globe. “They got a lot of similarities when it comes to the game,” said Mudiay.
“So, yeah. And I think that one thing that people are forgetting too is you know, he came in his rookie year and has been averaging over 20ppg since he’s been in the league. In his rookie year he averaged 20, but I think people are expecting — you work your way up like this, right? Like, if you get drafted you might average 10ppg. Then it’s 15, then it’s 20 like that but, he made such an impact his first year people dont let him have a moment of… how can I explain it…not a failing moment but he doesn’t have a whole lot of room to be… normal or to be him if you think about it.”
Mitchell was a stud for the Jazz this season. The Jazz completed the regular season with a 44-28 record and a sixth place finish in the NBA’s Western Conference standings.
GettyUtah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell
A Westchester County, New York native and 2018 NBA Slam Dunk Contest winner, Mitchell averaged 24 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists and one steal per contest this season. In the NBA Playoffs, he was lethal and took it to another level statistically.
Mitchell averaged 36.3 points, five rebounds and 4.9 assists in seven games in the NBA bubble and joined Utah Jazz guard, Jamal Murray by scoring at least 50 points twice in the same series. So I think the pressure that he plays with but at the same time how he performs speaks to him about how he works so,” said Mudiay.
“He had a great year.”
According to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, Mitchell, the 13th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft out of the University of Louisville, will be offered a rookie max extension approximately valued at $170 million over five years this offseason by the Jazz.
The payday will be earned!
“Y’all saw the 50-balls in the playoffs,” said Mudiay
“And all that so, one thing about him is he loves the game and I seen him put in the work a lot and he’s one of those guys that he’s the man on the team but, he makes everybody feel like they’re very very important. And he’s learning as well. Me and him are the same age right now: 24. So he’s learning just as much and he’s going to get better and better in my opinion.”