The Utah Jazz currently trail the Houston Rockets, 3-0, in their opening-round NBA playoff series. With second-year guard Donovan Mitchell missing a tying 3-point attempt at the end of regulation in Game 3, Jazz teammate and fellow guard Kyle Korver promptly came to the rescue when addressing the media.
Korver bestowed quite a compliment upon Mitchell, who has helped lead the Jazz to this point in the season.
“I have never been around a young player like Donovan Mitchell,” Korver told reporters after his team's Game 3 loss. “I have never seen someone so young take ownership of a team, take ownership of his play, do it with charisma, do it with class. I have never seen that in my 16 years in the NBA.
“He missed a tough shot tonight, but it's just going to be part of his story. If you've played any meaningful basketball in the NBA, you have a shot like that. If you don't, that means you haven't played in meaningful games, or you haven't been trusted by your teammates or coaches to take that shot. I don't care who it is in history, everyone has a shot they want back. This is going to be part of the story at the end of the day.
“Because of who he is, he's going to put too much on that shot. But we missed free throws, we missed dunks, we missed layups, we missed 3s. It was not about that shot. It was not about that shot. We had so many chances to win that game.”
With Game 4 slated for Monday evening in Salt Lake City, the Jazz face elimination on their home floor. Korver is looking beyond that reality:
“But I'm super proud of him,” Korver continued. “He came out and like, he heard that he hadn't played as well as he wanted to in the first couple of games, and he put the whole thing on his back. For a young guy, 21 years old or whatever he is, that's really special. He is on a great path in the NBA.
“At the end of the day, this is just going to be part of his story, part of his journey. He's just going to keep building on it.”
Follow Us
Subscribe