Shaquille O'Neal has never shied away from stating his opinion on national television, and Thursday night was another episode of Shaq's honesty on full display, this time rubbing off the wrong way on Utah Jazz star guard Donovan Mitchell.

The way Mitchell responded was definitely surprising to O'Neal, but Mitchell has been proving doubters wrong his entire life.

The former Louisville Cardinal was selected 13th overall in the 2017 NBA Draft after a stellar college career. Mitchell averaged north of 15 points per game in his only season as a full-time starter for the Cardinals, and he hasn't missed a beat since coming to the NBA.

The talented guard was selected after Luke Kennard, Jonathan Isaac, and Malik Monk, whose respective careers in the NBA have not gotten off to the best starts.

While Mitchell didn't pay Shaq much mind to his comments on the postgame interview, and “Spida” is having his best year yet in the NBA.

The Utah Jazz guard is averaging career-highs in points (24.3), assists (4.9), and 3-point percentage (40 percent). Mitchell is bound for his second consecutive All-Star Game, and the Jazz are sitting second in the Western Conference with an 11-4 record through the first 15 games.

Mitchell said he's been hearing the doubters since his rookie year, and he's the type of player whose fire you don't want to fuel.

The Jazz are quietly having a terrific year, and Mitchell is certainly a reason why. Spida had just dropped 36 points with seven boards and five dimes against the New Orleans Pelicans, and he's just a few months off from averaging 35 points per game in a Western Conference playoff series.

Perhaps Shaq's comments were meant to motivate him, but it seems as if Mitchell already has enough motivation and is only going to get better.

Jazz point guard Mike Conley said he was a fan of Mitchell's before he joined the Jazz, and stood up for his teammate after the exchange Thursday night.

Rudy Gobert also came to Mitchell's defense, but the Jazz would rather let their victories do the talking. Utah just won its seventh straight contest on Thursday and are currently tied with the Los Angeles Clippers and right behind the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in the ever-so-talented Western Conference.

Spida has already improved his points per game average in each of his four NBA seasons including this one, and his percentage from beyond the arc has improved in each season as well.

He has the benefit of learning from Conley and Gobert, and he just signed a huge five-year, $195-million extension over the summer to stay in Utah for the foreseeable future.

For a player who has somehow been doubted time and time again, and for Shaquille O'Neal to approach him with that statement, it will be interesting to see how good Donovan Mitchell turns out to be