SALT LAKE CITY — For as much as the Utah Jazz have struggled as of late, what with three consecutive losses coming out of the All-Star break, including Monday night’s dismal showing against the Phoenix Suns, Jazz fans could use some good news.
So here it is.
Third-year guard Donovan Mitchell is set to make some NBA history by the end of this season. The good kind, too.
Mitchell, who has scored 4,814 points to this point in his career, is on pace to break the 5,000-point mark by the end of the season. Why is this significant? That would make him just the seventh player since 2000 to score that many points in the first three seasons of his career, placing himself alongside the likes of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Donovan Mitchell is up to 4,814 points for his NBA career. He's on track to be the 7th player since 2000 to score 5,000+ in his first 3 seasons in the league pic.twitter.com/B8AAas4GTz
— Basketball Reference (@bball_ref) February 25, 2020
Mitchell had one of the finest offensive performances of his young career in the loss to the Suns, when he scored 38 points on 11-of-19 shooting, including a 6-of-9 performance from behind the arc.
📹| @spidadmitchell with back-to-back 30-point games for the 5th time this season ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/LWLUNjlzMV
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 25, 2020
Keep that up and he’ll find himself rising up the list in a hurry.
Other links
- Utah gymnast Abby Paulson earns spot on SportCenter’s Top 10 (Gymnastics Now)
- Kahuku’s Bradlee Anae hopeful to boost draft stock at NFL Scouting Combine (khon2)
- Build your perfect draft, featuring Zack Moss and Jordan Love (ProFootballFocus)
- As NCAA handwrings, female athletes see opportunities from looser endorsement rules (Wall Street Journal)
And finally ...
Was this the best postgame interview of all time? Quite possibly.