Donovan Mitchell played great basketball this season for the Utah Jazz.
The 13th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft out of the University of Louisville averaged 24 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists and one steal per contest in the regular season for a Jazz team that finished 44-28 and in sixth place in the NBA’s Western Conference standings.
A Westchester County, New York native and an NBA Slam Dunk Contest winner in 2018, Mitchell kicked it into overdrive in the NBA Playoffs and became one of two NBA players to score at least 50 points twice in the same series.
Mitchell averaged 36.3 points, five rebounds and 4.9 assists in seven games in the NBA bubble.
The other active player is Denver Nuggets guard, Jamal Murray.
Mitchell and the Jazz loss to Murray’s Nuggets in round one of the NBA Playoffs. Despite the Jazz’s elimination, Mitchell earned the respect of many; including his teammates.
“I seen him put in the work,” Jazz point guard, Emmanuel Mudiay told me on the Heavy Live With Scoop B Show.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA – OCTOBER 28: Emmanuel Mudiay #8 of the Utah Jazz handles the ball during the second half of the NBA game against the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena on October 28, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Jazz defeated the Suns 96-95. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
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.
“He’s a teammate that’s always checking in on everybody,” said Mudiay.
“I mean, he’ll FaceTime you at random times like, ‘Yo! What you doing? Just seeing what you was on.’ He’ll ask you if you want to go on trips with him and stuff like that and it’s the stuff that people don’t see that makes him who he is as a great person and another thing that can say is that he wants to win. Like, that’s something that he really WANTS to do.
The Jazz’s front office is also keen on Mitchell too.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, Utah will offer Mitchell a rookie max extension approximately valued at $170 million over five years this offseason.
“I’m happy,” Mudiay told Heavy Live With Scoop B of Mitchell.
The NBA’s free agency period is expected to begin next month and Mitchell wants to elevate his team to the next level. “He’s still hurt honestly right now about you know, the whole 3-1 situation,” said Mudiay.
“He wants to be playing so bad right now especially seeing how they were able to beat the Clippers; and he wanted the same opportunity and same chance which we all did but, you can tell it meant a little bit more to him.”
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Donovan Mitchell’s Jazz Teammate Reveals Why Loss to Nuggets Angers Him