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Donovan Mitchell

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For the South African poet, see Donovan Mitchell (poet).

Donovan Mitchell
Mitchell in 2018
No. 45 – Utah Jazz
PositionShooting guard
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1996-09-07) September 7, 1996 (age 28)
Elmsford, New York
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High schoolBrewster Academy
(Wolfeboro, New Hampshire)
CollegeLouisville (2015–2017)
NBA draft2017: 1st round, 13th overall pick
Selected by the Denver Nuggets
Playing career2017–present
Career history
2017–presentUtah Jazz
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference

Donovan Vernell Mitchell Jr.[1] (born September 7, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals. He was selected by the Denver Nuggets with the 13th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft and was traded on draft night to the Utah Jazz. During his rookie season, Mitchell was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team and won the 2018 Slam Dunk Contest.

Early life

Donovan Mitchell was born on September 7, 1996, to parents Donovan Sr. and Nicole; it was in Elmsford, New York, where he was also raised.[2] With his father serving as a director of players relations for the New York Mets, he spent time around Major League Baseball locker rooms. He looked up to star pitcher of the Mets' minor-league system Scott Kazmir and later to David Wright, who was the first poster he hung on his wall.[3] Mitchell has one younger sister named Jordan.[4] He played AAU basketball for both The City and the Riverside Hawks programs out of New York City.[5] In 2010, Mitchell was present at the Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich when LeBron James announced to the world his decision to sign with the Miami Heat.[6]

High school career

Mitchell attended Canterbury School in New Milford for his first two years of high school, after having graduated from Greenwich Country Day School likewise in Connecticut.[7] Besides basketball, Mitchell played baseball for Canterbury as well.[8] Yet his high school baseball career ended in his sophomore year after incurring injury; dashing for a pop-up in the infield, Mitchell collided with a catcher, who suffered a broken jaw while he received a broken wrist as a result. It also ended his upcoming AAU season. For his junior and senior years, his mother transferred him to Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. Making basketball his focus and availing of Brewster's nationally prominent program, Mitchell garnered considerably more attention from college basketball coaches.[9] He quickly proved popular among his new schoolmates; so much so, he ran for senior prefect at the end of his junior year. He also acted in the school musical and gave tours to visiting students in his role as a member of the Gold Key Club. He won two prep school national championships for Brewster's team. As he would later do in college, Mitchell spent his summers playing in streetball games at the famed Rucker Park in New York City. At an event sponsored by Under Armour on a Brooklyn basketball court, he did a dunk that went on to be featured on Sports Center. Mitchell was invited to play in the regional game for the Jordan Brand Classic, ranking twenty-seventh in the country by one recruiting service and forty-third by another.[3] He committed to the University of Louisville to play college basketball.[10]

College career

Mitchell playing for Louisville in 2017

Mitchell opted to wear number 45 on his jersey in appreciation for Michael Jordan, who took the same number during his baseball career and the early part of his NBA comeback in 1995. As a freshman at the University of Louisville, Mitchell started in no more than five games[3] and averaged 7.4 points, 1.7 assists, and 3.4 rebounds for the season.[11]

Over his sophomore season, Mitchell averaged 15.6 points, 2.7 assists, and 4.9 rebounds per game, while shooting 46.3 percent from the floor as well as 35.4 from behind the arc and 80.6 percent from the free-throw line.[12] He was named to the First Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference.[13] Though he did not immediately hire an agent, Mitchell declared for the 2017 NBA draft on the heels of his sophomore campaign.[14]

Professional career

Utah Jazz (2017–present)

Donovan Mitchell playing for Utah Jazz in 2018

Rookie season (2017–18)

Mitchell was drafted by the Denver Nuggets with the 13th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft only to be traded to the Utah Jazz for the 24th pick (Tyler Lydon) and Trey Lyles.[15] On July 5, 2017, Mitchell signed a four-year rookie scale contract with the Jazz.[16] On July 11, 2017, Mitchell signed a multi-year shoe deal with Adidas. Later that day, Mitchell scored 37 points against the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2017 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, the most by any player during the 2017 NBA Summer League.[17] In his NBA debut on October 18, 2017, Mitchell registered 10 points and 4 assists against the Denver Nuggets.[18] On December 1, 2017, he scored a career-high 41 points in a 114–108 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. He set the Jazz scoring record for a rookie and became the first NBA rookie to score 40 points in a game since Blake Griffin in 2011.[19] He surpassed Darrell Griffith's team-record 38 in 1981.[20] Mitchell also became the seventh rookie in franchise history to have a 30-plus point game, as well as the first to have a 40-plus point game.[21] On January 4, 2018, Mitchell was named the Western Conference Rookie of the Month for December 2017 after averaging 23.1 points, 3.4 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 34.3 minutes per game during the month of December.[22] On January 15, 2018, Mitchell surpassed Karl Malone for most 20+ points games during a rookie season when he had his 19th 20+ point game.[23] On February 2, 2018 Donovan recorded his second 40 point game of his rookie season against the Phoenix Suns, becoming the first rookie guard to notch two 40-point games since Allen Iverson in 1996-97.[24] On February 5, 2018, Donovan was named by the NBA as an injury replacement for Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon (strained left hip flexor) for the 2018 NBA Slam Dunk Contest.[25] He won the contest scoring a 48 and 50 in the first round, then a 50 and 48 in the final round being the first rookie to win the contest since Zach LaVine. On March 1, 2018, Mitchell was named as the Western Conference Rookie of the month for the third time that season for games played in February.[26] On April 10, he set a rookie record for most three-pointers in a season with 186 three-pointers during a 119–79 win over the Golden State Warriors.[27] On April 12, at the end of the regular season, Mitchell was named Western Conference Rookie of the Month for March and April.[28]

In Mitchell's playoff debut against the Oklahoma City Thunder on April 15, he recorded 27 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists.[29] He bruised his foot during the game and was questionable for Game 2,[30] but was able to play, scoring 28 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter to lead the Jazz to a 102–95 win. Mitchell set a new record for points by a shooting guard in the team's first two postseason games with 55 points, breaking Michael Jordan's record of 53 points.[31] Mitchell led the Jazz to a 4-2 series win over the Thunder, averaging 28.5 points a game on 46.2 percent shooting.[32] His 171 points in the series were the third-most ever by a rookie in his first six playoff games, behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain.[32] His 38 points in Game 6 (on 14-of-26 shooting) marked the highest scoring output by a rookie in a series-clinching win since 1980.[32] On May 22, 2018, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.[33]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

NBA

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 Utah 79 71 33.4 .437 .340 .805 3.7 3.7 1.5 .3 20.5
2018–19 Utah 77 77 33.7 .432 .362 .806 4.1 4.2 1.4 .4 23.8
Career 156 148 33.6 .434 .351 .805 3.9 3.9 1.4 .4 22.1

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2018 Utah 11 11 37.4 .420 .313 .907 5.9 4.2 1.5 .4 24.4
2019 Utah 5 5 38.6 .321 .256 .727 5.0 3.2 1.6 .2 21.4
Career 16 16 37.8 .389 .293 .829 5.6 3.9 1.5 .3 23.4

College

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2015–16 Louisville 31 5 19.1 .442 .250 .754 3.4 1.7 .8 .1 7.4
2016–17 Louisville 34 33 32.3 .408 .354 .806 4.9 2.7 2.1 .5 15.6
Career 65 38 26.0 .418 .329 .788 4.1 2.2 1.5 .3 11.7

Off the court

During the 2017–18 season Mitchell appeared on the cover of SLAM Magazine and starred in a documentary called "Rookie on the Rise".[34] The docu-series follows Mitchell on his race for the Rookie Of The Year. [35] The series is available for viewing on Young Hollywood TV – a digital network available on Apple TV, Amazon Channels, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, and Roku. The series could also be viewed on younghollywood.com, Facebook Watch, Young Hollywood’s YouTube page, Twitter and other social channels. [36]

References

  1. ^ "Donovan Mitchell on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  2. ^ Woodyard, Eric (November 15, 2017). "New York native Donovan Mitchell cherishes Madison Square Garden debut". Deseret News. Retrieved February 12, 2018. His locker room nametag may read Greenwich, Connecticut, but he was actually born in Elmsford, New York
  3. ^ a b c Forgrave, Reid (December 6, 2018). "How Jazz star Donovan Mitchell and Salt Lake City came together to form a perfect underdog identity". cbssports.com. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  4. ^ Polacek, Scott (February 18, 2018). "Donovan Mitchell Talks Importance of Sister Jordan Participating in Dunk Contest". bleacherreport.com. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  5. ^ Berman, Marc (June 7, 2017). "Mets executive's son is high on the Knicks' draft radar". New York Post. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  6. ^ Rapaport, Daniel. "New Dunk Champion Donovan Mitchell Was At LeBron's 'Decision' Ceremony". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  7. ^ Eric Woodyard (May 8, 2018). "Utah Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell displays love for baseball during first NBA playoff run". Deseret News. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  8. ^ Eric Woodyard (May 8, 2018). "Utah Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell displays love for baseball during first NBA playoff run". Deseret News. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  9. ^ Greer, Jeff (October 26, 2016). "Donovan Mitchell: Baseball star?". cincinnati.com. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  10. ^ "Four-star guard Donovan Mitchell commits to Louisville". si.com. Sports Illustrated. August 8, 2014. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  11. ^ Greer, Jeff (November 10, 2016). "Is Donovan Mitchell Cards' next star?". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  12. ^ Varney, Dennis (June 22, 2017). "Utah Jazz take Louisville's Donovan Mitchell after draft-night trade involving former UK star". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  13. ^ Press Release (March 5, 2017). "ACC Announces All-Conference Team, Postseason Awards, All-ACC Teams". theacc.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2017. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  14. ^ Goodman, Jeff (March 22, 2017). "Donovan Mitchell to enter draft, but may return to Louisville". espn.co.uk. ESPN. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  15. ^ Polacek, Scott (June 22, 2017). "Donovan Mitchell Picked No. 13 in NBA Draft, Nuggets to Trade Him to Jazz". bleacherreport.com. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  16. ^ Daniels, Tim (July 5, 2017). "Donovan Mitchell Signs Utah Jazz Rookie Contract". bleacherreport.com. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  17. ^ Aulbach, Lucas (July 11, 2017). "Donovan Mitchell signs shoe deal with Adidas, then scores 37 points at NBA Summer League". Courier-Journal. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  18. ^ Genessy, Jody (October 18, 2017). "Donovan Mitchell's NBA career gets off to a very quick start". deseretnews.com. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  19. ^ "NBA rookie Donovan Mitchell scores 41 points as Jazz beat Pelicans". news.com.au. December 2, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  20. ^ Associated Press (December 1, 2017). "Rookie Donovan Mitchell scores career-high 41, Jazz beat Pelicans". Sportsnet.ca. Salt Lake City: Sportsnet. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  21. ^ "Donovan Mitchell goes for career-high 41 in Jazz victory". ESPN.com. December 1, 2017. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  22. ^ "Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum, Utah Jazz's Donovan Mitchell named Kia Rookies of Month". NBA.com. January 4, 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  23. ^ Powell, Shaun (January 24, 2018). "League taking note of Donovan Mitchell's impressive rookie campaign". NBA.com. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  24. ^ "What Donovan Mitchell's Iverson comps mean for the Jazz". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  25. ^ "Utah Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell to replace Aaron Gordon in 2018 Verizon Slam Dunk". NBA.com. February 5, 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  26. ^ "76ers' Ben Simmons, Jazz's Donovan Mitchell named Kia Rookies of Month for February". NBA.com. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  27. ^ "Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell breaks rookie record for 3-pointers". NBA.com. April 10, 2018. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  28. ^ "76ers' Ben Simmons, Jazz's Donovan Mitchell named Kia Rookies of Month for March, April". NBA.com. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  29. ^ "Thunder's Paul George, Jazz's Donovan Mitchell set to play Game 2". nba.com. April 18, 2018. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  30. ^ Devine, Dan (April 18, 2018). "'I've got to be smart with it': Donovan Mitchell (left foot contusion) questionable for Game 2 vs. Thunder". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  31. ^ Young, Royce (April 19, 2018). "Donovan Mitchell's 55 points in his first 2 playoff games most ever by guard". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  32. ^ a b c "Donovan Mitchell dominated the Thunder in his playoff series debut". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  33. ^ "Donovan Mitchell, Ben Simmons lead 2017-18 NBA All-Rookie first team". NBA.com. May 22, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  34. ^ Woodyard, Eric (March 21, 2018). "Donovan Mitchell becomes second Utah Jazz player to make cover of SLAM magazine". deseretnews.com. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  35. ^ Brown, Sierra (April 3, 2018). "Donovan Mitchell Gets A 'Fresh Cut' In New Web Series". vibe.com. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  36. ^ "Exclusive release Rookie on The Rise". vibe.com. May 5, 2018. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
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