The Rookie of the Year race has been one of the most hotly contested awards races all season in the NBA.

It's come down to Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz and Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Before the Jazz's game tonight against the Golden State Warriors, Mitchell made a big time statement about the pursued hardware.

If you look closely, on the hoodie is a dictionary-like definition of the word “rookie” as Mitchell is clearly referring to the fact that Simmons was not drafted last summer.

After going No. 1 overall in the 2016 NBA Draft, Simmons missed his entire first season with an injury, not officially beginning his rookie season until this year. Mitchell was drafted last summer.

This is of course a playful jab from Mitchell as the two seem to have respect for each other despite both making it clear they both really want to win the award.

It may seem like a toss up and we won't know for awhile, but before then we will see both lead their respective teams in the playoffs. That shouldn't come into account when the final voting is done, but it will give us the best evidence of which rookie was the best for his team this season.