"It Starts With Me" | Following Great Season, Mitchell Ready To Work

When Donovan Mitchell sat down in front of the media immediately following Utah’s season-ending loss to Dallas in the opening round of the NBA playoffs, he made it very apparent that many of Utah’s struggles were on him. 

As the leader and a borderline all-NBA player, it was widely expected that Mitchell would take the blame — that’s what true stars do. But digging into what Mitchell said — and more importantly, how he said it — it’s even more apparent that he is a player who cares and someone who means what he says. 

“As a team, we didn’t rise to the occasion. … We didn’t do enough,” he said three weeks ago. “I can’t put the blame anywhere else in that regard. … It starts with me. I wasn’t where I wanted to be this year, and there were times this year when the ball rolled out that we didn’t show that we wanted to be a team with championship aspirations.”

While that may be the exact response a team would want from their superstar, Mitchell took it a step further. He vowed to come back better than ever, put the work in during the offseason, and emerge at the top of his game.

“I’m looking forward to working on my game all summer, and getting into the gym. … I’m looking forward to putting the work in,” Mitchell said.

Despite the insane amount of work Mitchell will put in this summer, he’s still coming off a very impressive season, one of the best statistically in his young career.

Mitchell averaged 25.9 points, 5.3 assists (career-high), 4.2 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game (career-high), shooting 44.8% from the floor and 35.5% from beyond the arc. His points and field goal percentage were the second-highest outputs of his career.

It wasn’t just a season of great stats for Mitchell, it was also filled with many accolades and accomplishments. 

He was named the Western Conference Player of the Month for December after leading the Jazz to a 10-2 record — his first time ever receiving the award.

His stat line was impressive, averaging 30.2 points, 5.0 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.2 steals in 34.2 minutes per game. While those are excellent numbers, the efficiency truly set him apart, shooting 50.2% from the field, 37.7% from three-point territory, and 87% from the free throw line.

Mitchell was also named as an all-star for the third consecutive season, tying him with Boston’s Jayson Tatum as the only players from the 2017 NBA draft class to earn three all-stars since being chosen. 

While Mitchell has yet to even approach the prime of his career — he’s still just 25 years old — he’s proving that he’s already a force to be reckoned with that will only become more difficult for opponents.