![]() ![]() It’s fast company out there, indeed - LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and maybe a couple of others. ![]() If they don’t like it, they don’t like it.”īut it is also true that Donovan Mitchell does have to continue to improve to reach the lofty position from and by which he can lead the Jazz to not just an NBA title, but contention for a championship. … I’m here to play basketball and to win and to be the best teammate I can be. I hate to take a win like this and make it about me. He’s gotten better every year.”Īnd, finally, this from Mitchell himself: “We’ve won seven in a row. Mike Conley added: “I don’t know how you can make a statement like that regarding progress at such a young age. And then they can call us whatever they want.” Hopefully, they will have to watch us until July. Rudy Gobert, who also has been criticized and ridiculed by Shaq, said: “At the end of the day, whatever they want to call us, if we keep winning games, they will have to watch us anyway. The reactions afterward by the Jazz were pretty much what you’d expect, pretty much on target. And later, his self-proclamation and classification that his confrontational questioning of Mitchell’s abilities is a “lesson” taught by him, the great Jedi Master, to the student. Nobody ever wonders such things about lesser players, only those ascending toward ionospheric consideration.īut there also were stupid suggestions, premature conclusions uttered by Shaq, such as Mitchell needing to be the second or third option on a bona fide championship team. Essentially, the general point they were raising - despite the abrasive manner in which Shaq shoved his sudden declaration straight into Mitchell’s grille - actually was a twisted compliment, though too definitive. Jazz fans - and others, too - were put off by Shaq’s approach.īut the higher standard of which he and Barkley spoke, applied so aggressively to the Jazz star, is a real thing, and legitimate, as well. It’s a tough standard by which they were measuring Mitchell.Īnd after those remarks from the studio stirred things up, Barkley and Shaq indicated such criticism is to be expected and is warranted as a player reaches new heights, prompting new elite standards by which he’s to be judged, to which he’s to be held. Smith said Mitchell had to demonstrate abilities in other categories, besides scoring, such as the aforementioned passing and rebounding, but also including as other potential boxes to check defensive prowess and leadership. If Mitchell rises to a championship level, Shaq will take credit for it.Įither way, Mitchell was ticked and quietly flicked Shaq’s act away.Ĭharles Barkley and Kenny Smith concurred with O’Neal, saying Mitchell is too one dimensional as a scorer and getting snagged on the fact that the 6-foot-1 guard only has had one game in his career where he got 10 assists and one where he got 10 rebounds. Whether Shaq was asking a good faith question draped in the form of a declarative statement, or was trying to antagonize Mitchell, or using some sort of Shaq-fu motivational technique on him is a bit of a mystery. Translation: “Do anatomically impossible things to yourself, Shaq.” ![]() Shaq asserted that Donovan Mitchell isn’t good enough to take the Jazz to the next level, and said as much straight to the Jazz guard during a postgame interview, Mitchell wearing a headset on the floor at Vivint Arena, Shaq sitting in the TNT studio.
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