Donovan Mitchell doesn't give Keyonte George the best advice

The Utah Jazz are, for the moment, relying on Keyonte George to improve from season to season and provide a more reliable hand at point guard. He struggled in a lot of ways and while some will dismiss this as typical rookie growing pains, too many rookies played far better than him this season to accept that as an excuse. He can develop and get better, absolutely, but we haven't seen that, so we shouldn't assume that he will.

One part of developing and growing as a player isn't just the experience on the court, but knowledge of the game. Knowledge passed on from the older players down to the younger ones. Usually, that knowledge is dished out in ways to improve one's game. How to play better defense, how to angle yourself on certain shots, and the best ways to bait defenders into crossovers or other false movements.

Stuff like that. Usually, it's actually tangible, not "don't look mopey". Speaking to the media at his end-of-year press conference (via Sports Illustrated), George revealed that former Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell gave him advice, and the most pressing advice that George took in was to not look sad, saying;

""The main thing that stuck with me, as far as what Donovan [Mitchell] told me, is body language. Everybody is going to mess up. I'm going to mess up. The staff is going to mess up. But, if I want to be in the position he was in when he was here, a leader... [People are] going to look and see how you are as far as your body language. If you're at the end of the bench, head down, in the game, throw your hands out, everybody is going to follow you. So, it's just about taking that next jump-- keeping the poker face. Body language is going to be a main key for me. At the same time, it's good to show emotion, but the word for me next year is going to be 'emotional intelligence' for sure."

Now, it may seem arbitrary but it's not the worst advice a pro can give you. While it's good to remember that, it's far more important to learn how to shed defenders off of a pick and roll, or how to alter your shooting stance to make your three-point shot more effective. Or knowing the difference between teams so you know who to pass to and who not to.

Sometimes the advice we get isn't the advice we need and if that was the most important piece of information that George took away from that conversation, either Mitchell didn't give great advice and George was just being polite, or George really didn't hear the more important bits well enough.

Either way, yikes.