The Utah Jazz lost a heart-breaker to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night, and Donovan Mitchell came up short in some big moments. That’s OK, though, as it isn’t supposed to be a straight line drive to greatness.
Donovan Mitchell was absolutely special in the closing moments of the Utah Jazz’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night. The steal off the inbound, the uber-athletic rebound over Rudy Gobert, the crossover on Paul George and dunk attempt and my personal favorite: the slapping of the floor on defense.
Donovan Mitchell gets fouled. Westbrook fouled out. Mitchell misses the first, Jazz lose. Game. https://t.co/eAKtEiUGne
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) December 23, 2018
Unfortunately, Mitchell and the Jazz came up short. That’s OK, though, as I said. Michael Jordan had his famous quote about how his failures are what made him so successful, and I think that comes into play here. I saw flashes of greatness from Mitchell. I hope he keeps his head up and grows from this.
I know he missed one FT, but Mitchell was special in those final moments. This is where he needs to remember this quote: "I've failed over and over again in my life, and that's why I succeed." - MJ. @spidadmitchell, learn from it, grow from it.
— Josh Padmore (@JPadmore92) December 23, 2018
Kobe Bryant, the closest thing to MJ (and it’s not even close) has missed more shots than anybody in NBA history. Over 14,000 misses. Again, that’s totally fine. Kobe is Kobe and he doesn’t remotely care about that stat. He never let his misses, or the naysayers, get in his way on the path to becoming an all-time great.
Mitchell is missing a lot of shots this year, given his shooting percentages. He’s also getting a lot of flak from fans. That’s what comes with greatness: haters and naysayers. Mitchell has the killer mindset; the Mamba Mentality. You can see it in his eyes sometimes.
That being said, I really think it’s important that Mitchell brushes off the negative comments he’s getting and make it fuel him.
Despite the loss, the Jazz are still in good shape. They’ve played much, much better lately and Mitchell had a solid outing, scoring 20 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Their next game is against the Portland Trail Blazers on Christmas Day.