In the history of the NBA, there have been a plethora of sensational scoring performances. The popular ones that come to mind are Wilt Chamberlain's 100 points and Kobe Bryant's 81 points. While there have been many electrifying 50- and 60-point games along the way by a multitude of great players, Donovan Mitchell scoring 71 points against the Chicago Bulls Monday night cements his superstar status.
In his sixth season, Mitchell is averaging 29.3 points per game, the highest total of his career. Most of Mitchell's elite play was overlooked when he was on the Utah jazz. Mainly because the Jazz are never as relevant come playoff time and because social media often puts a magnifying glass on more well-known superstar talents. After last night, though, Mitchell is as well known as anybody in the league and he's by far the most underrated.
At only 26-years-old, Mitchell's best is surely yet to come. After entering the dunk contest as a rookie, he garnered the nickname "spida" due to his insane jumping ability. And when you've seen highlights, it's probably of him jumping out of the arena to throw down a monster dunk. However, Mitchell's scoring prowess has been on display since he entered the league, averaging 20 plus points every season. Most fans knew he was good, but the breakout game he had against Chicago was bound to happen.
Since the NBA is so elite, it's easy to get lost in the shuffle especially if your a good player on a less popular team. Or have never won a championship. For example, Anthony Davis was one of the best scorers in the league when he was on the New Orleans Pelicans, but he didn't get the recognition he deserved because the Pelicans were never formidable.
They are now, but the point is there are levels and calibers. Mitchell is an elite scorer and even with his move to Cleveland, he's still one of the most underrated players who might even get brushed under the rug again until something truly momentous happens in his career. And it will undoubtedly take a championship to vault Mitchell into Steph Curry or Kevin Durant category, but for the time being he has made his case to be mentioned right up there with those guys.
Mitchell may fly under the radar most evenings, but if he gets close to doing this again, we may have to talk about him being overrated instead.
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