Louisville Basketball: Donovan Mitchell featured on ESPN’s First Take

Donovan Mitchell has had an incredible rookie season for the Utah Jazz. This week he was featured on ESPN’s First Take with hosts Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman.

What a year it’s been for former Louisville basketball star and NBA rookie Donovan Mitchell. After being selected 13th overall by the Denver Nuggets and then dealt to the Utah Jazz, Mitchell has taken the league by storm behind his electric play, team-first mentality, and jaw dropping dunks that helped him win the 2018 Slam Dunk Competition.

No one saw the Jazz being a playoff team in the 2017-18 season after losing star Gordon Hayward to the Boston Celtics in free agency. But behind the sensational play of Mitchell, the Jazz currently hold the 4th seed in the western conference, and could wind up with home-court advantage in the first round.

With the season coming to a close in just a few weeks, and the Jazz overachieving, big time media outlets have taken notice. Mitchell has appeared on the cover of Slam Magazine, stared in a hollywood docu-series, and much more.

Today the rookie of the year candidate appeared on ESPN’s flagship program First Take with hosts Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman.

Here a few excerpts from today’ appearance.

On rookie of the year competition with Ben Simmons

"“I’m a person who keeps things consistent. This wasn’t a thought in October. So why now that we’re going into the playoffs should this be a thought for me now… Ben’s obviously a talented player, the amount of triple doubles he’s got in the season is incredible… I’m just trying to see if we can push into the top four seeds in the west… I want to be the best in the NBA, not the best of one particular class.”"

On Lamar Jackson being “the real deal”

"“One thing I tell people is, my freshman year before he became “Lamar Jackson” we had dunk contests… His improvement from his freshman to sophomore year is incredible. He has so many different skills that we haven’t seen in a while, so that’s I think he’s going to be one of the best in this draft.”"

On Rick Pitino being fired and how he felt about Louisville being stripped of the 2013 title

"“It hurt….A lot of the guys on that team came back and practiced with us and mentored us when I was there. To see that championship go was very tough. From a national standpoint as a community they won’t forget what happened in Georgia, it’s their pride-and-joy.”“With Coach Mack coming in we’re excited to move Louisville forward. Hopefully this year we’ll bounce back to the program that we were.”"

It’s not been hard to see this season that Donovan Mitchell still follows his former team, keeps up with his former teammates, and shares his love for the program everywhere he goes.

Whether it’s cheering on the team on Twitter from several thousand miles a way, or using a platform like ESPN to talk about his love for Louisville, it’s incredible to see what Donovan Mitchell has done with the skills he acquired in his time at UofL.

Mitchell is still fighting for the coveted rookie of the year award, which has been a huge conversation and debate this season. Mitchell is going up against fellow rookie Ben Simmons, who

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has been phenomenal for the Philadelphia 76ers, racking up a NBA record 11 triple-doubles in his first season in the NBA.

While Ben Simmons and the 76ers are pushing for the rookie of the year award, as deserved as it may be, what I love most is the humble, team first approach Donovan Mitchell has taken. Louisville fans know more than anyone how much of a “team first” player Mitchell is, which is what makes him so special.

Even with him averaging over 20 points a game, leading his team and all rookies in scoring (he’s got you there Ben), and even helping the Jazz get back from 10 games under .500 to the 4th seed in the Western Conference playoff race, Mitchell still wants more. He wants more success for his team, he wants a better seed in the playoffs, he wants to win in the playoffs and he wants to be better than just “the best player in his rookie class.”

I think Ben Simmons walks away with rookie of the year this season, but with both teams geared up for postseason runs in 2018, and pushing their respective teams to challenge NBA giants the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers, this battle won’t end this year.

Instead, look for Donovan Mitchell and Ben Simmons to be compared to each other for the rest of their all-star careers.

Next: Louisville Basketball: Targeting Graduate Transfers

It must also be mentioned that after 77 games, Ben Simmons still has not made a three pointer.. That alone makes Donovan Mitchell rookie of the year in my own personal record book.