Earlier this week, the NBA announced that Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma was the Western Conference Rookie of the Month for November.
Following Donovan Mitchell's breakout performance with a career-high 41 points in the Utah Jazz’s 114-108 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, his teammate Rudy Gobert made it clear that he believes the award snub more than motivated the 21-year-old.
Someone wasn't very happy about that rookie of the month đź‘€#takefnnote
— Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) December 2, 2017
Mitchell certainly put together a performance like a highly-motivated player, notching a Jazz scoring record for a rookie by surpassing Darrell Griffith's previous mark of 38 points. He also became the first NBA rookie to score 40 points in a game since Blake Griffin back in 2011 along with being the seventh rookie in franchise history to record a 30-plus point game.
Prior to that, he has made a compelling case for the Rookie of the Month honors for November averaging 18.1 points with 3.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.5 steals in 15 games played. It includes scoring in double figures in all but two games, while recording six 20-point outings.
That said, Kyle Kuzma did string together quite a productive month of November averaging 18.2 points on 49.2 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent from beyond the arc along with 6.7 rebounds per game. This also entailed four double-doubles while becoming the first Lakers rookie since Magic Johnson to record at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in a single game.
Although Donovan Mitchell did not earn that prestigious honor, he has at least begun to garner national attention after the 41-point outing that could help him become a serious candidate for the Rookie of the Year and possibly a few Rookie of the Month honors starting with December.
Follow Us
Subscribe