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When it comes to Utah Jazz rising star rookie guard Donovan Mitchell, his future continues to become that much brighter after every single game he plays. Exactly how good has the 21-year-old rookie out of the University of Louisville been this year so far? Well, he already just tied a very impressive rookie record with legendary Jazz power forward Karl Malone, so that should help put things into perspective a bit.
According to a tweet from the Jazz official Twitter account during tonight's game against the Charlotte Hornets, Mitchell's 23 points at halftime made tonight's contest his 18th game this season that he has scored at least 20 points.
Mitchell/Mailman milestone 🕷️📫@spidadmitchell #NBAVote #KIARoy pic.twitter.com/jHCa0nSE9v
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 13, 2018
Karl Malone scored 20+ points 18 times his rookie season
Donovan Mitchell has tied that record tonight #UTAatCHA
(It's game 42, btw)
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 13, 2018
Mitchell's feat tied The Mailman's rookie record during the 1985-86 NBA season, which says a lot considering that this is only game No. 42 of Utah's 2017-18 campaign. It's safe to say that Mitchell will likely break Malone's rookie record much sooner than later. Heading into Friday night's road game against the Hornets, Mitchell was averaging 18.4 points, 3.4 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game in roughly 31.2 minutes of action per contest.
Mitchell also recently made an appearance on SportsCenter and had an interview with longtime anchor Scott Van Pelt to talk about his rookie campaign, moments that have stood out to him and the possibility of him entering the 2018 NBA Slam Dunk Contest in February. The video, which was posted to ESPN's official YouTube page, can be viewed below:
You know what else Spida and The Mailman have in common? They were both selected No. 13 overall by the Jazz in the NBA Draft. That unlucky No. 13 really isn't so unlucky, after all.
