"Donovan Mitchell doesn't have what it takes to get to the next level." - Shaq
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Yeah Shaq definitely said that as a motivational move. Guess he thought DM needed a fire lit under him for some reason.
the great ones never forget a single slight and all of them need the motivation constantly or the get bored and slip. if you go back to michael jordan's HOF speech, people mocked him for talking about how he dominated specific players but if you really listen to what MJ was saying, every player he talked about had slighted him in some small way and he used it to get better, to push himself past that player, dominate them, then move onto the the next player or team who slighted him. it never stops. also, regretfully, as a laker fan, coming from shaq, it's pot calling the kettle dull as if he had kobe's dedication for getting better, instead of wanting to be a hollywood star, they would have had at least two more titles together, probably 3 or 4, and kobe shold have ended with 6 to 8 titles and shaq at least 6 or 7 if not 8 too. and shaq knows it and has admitted he didn't take the game seriously enough during their time. spidah does. utah is shooting the three this year and has won 8 straight as of tonight. but when you miss the three's you lose so we'll see how their season goes
This is positive, because it now means Don has reached that level where there are expectations. He's not longer the new rookie. They're judging him on success. You'd rather have high expectation than low.
You got to remember who Shaq played with Penny, Kobe, & DWade. He also played with a young LeBron too. Shaq took shots at those young guards and pushed all 3 to be better players. Notice that all 3 of those guys took their games to the next level while playing with Shaq. Shaq was the only player from 1991-1998 that beat MJ's Bulls in a series. Shaq is the last player to win 3 straight Finals MVP's. Shaq made the Finals with 3 different teams and 3 different coaches.
I like that old school approach, not the Dick Vitale "everyone is great and everyone is going to March!" but kissing of today. I watch all of Utah's games and I agree with some of what Shaq says.
When Donovan is scoring, they can win games big. But when he isn't scoring, he's not doing much else. And at this point he's not Harden where he's scoring so much that it doesn't matter. Donovan is in a good culture, so he knows about winning games and playing right, but Shaq is telling him that there's more to stats. It's like Westbrook, he chose stats over winning titles. Curry chose to defer and make his team better.
Donovan has that rare "star" potential that only 20 guys at a time in the NBA have with his athleticism and skill combination. He's young and has time to learn. Now listening to a Shaq will be what turns Don into a title contender. Maybe you're the only guy who can score, but maybe you don't have to take 20 shots most nights and let those guys get confidence. Curry could average 35 and put up crazy numbers, but Steph chose to let Draymond, Klay, Iggy, and the other get touches. He developed the guys around him. When you're the star, the other guys look to you and when you have confidence in them, it makes the team better.
It's cool to see the tweets "Look at what Spida did tonight" or "Spida put up 40 tonight!", but long-term it'll be cooler to say that Don did what Karl Malone & Stockton couldn't do & what Deron Williams and Gordon Haword ran away from. Conley is the perfect teacher, he's always been a star but was more about "team-first" and those Grizzlies teams were great.
Once you get that Max contract, a lot is riding on you. It's hard to get stars to Utah, so they have to settle for Gobert & Conley types. They'll have lower draft picks & trade the ones they have to get a team. So it's up to him to be a Steph, Chris Paul, Jordan, Tim Duncan, and other that is the star that makes other players on the team great. Maybe he doesn't win a scoring title, but averaging 25 instead of 30 is better if that means the ball is spread around.
You got to remember who Shaq played with Penny, Kobe, & DWade. He also played with a young LeBron too. Shaq took shots at those young guards and pushed all 3 to be better players. Notice that all 3 of those guys took their games to the next level while playing with Shaq. Shaq was the only player from 1991-1998 that beat MJ's Bulls in a series. Shaq is the last player to win 3 straight Finals MVP's. Shaq made the Finals with 3 different teams and 3 different coaches.
I like that old school approach, not the Dick Vitale "everyone is great and everyone is going to March!" but kissing of today. I watch all of Utah's games and I agree with some of what Shaq says.
When Donovan is scoring, they can win games big. But when he isn't scoring, he's not doing much else. And at this point he's not Harden where he's scoring so much that it doesn't matter. Donovan is in a good culture, so he knows about winning games and playing right, but Shaq is telling him that there's more to stats. It's like Westbrook, he chose stats over winning titles. Curry chose to defer and make his team better.
Donovan has that rare "star" potential that only 20 guys at a time in the NBA have with his athleticism and skill combination. He's young and has time to learn. Now listening to a Shaq will be what turns Don into a title contender. Maybe you're the only guy who can score, but maybe you don't have to take 20 shots most nights and let those guys get confidence. Curry could average 35 and put up crazy numbers, but Steph chose to let Draymond, Klay, Iggy, and the other get touches. He developed the guys around him. When you're the star, the other guys look to you and when you have confidence in them, it makes the team better.
It's cool to see the tweets "Look at what Spida did tonight" or "Spida put up 40 tonight!", but long-term it'll be cooler to say that Don did what Karl Malone & Stockton couldn't do & what Deron Williams and Gordon Haword ran away from. Conley is the perfect teacher, he's always been a star but was more about "team-first" and those Grizzlies teams were great.
Once you get that Max contract, a lot is riding on you. It's hard to get stars to Utah, so they have to settle for Gobert & Conley types. They'll have lower draft picks & trade the ones they have to get a team. So it's up to him to be a Steph, Chris Paul, Jordan, Tim Duncan, and other that is the star that makes other players on the team great. Maybe he doesn't win a scoring title, but averaging 25 instead of 30 is better if that means the ball is spread around.