Keyonte George is enjoying a career year with the Utah Jazz, earning himself some praise from his colleagues, including Donovan Mitchell, who was once the team’s up-and-coming star.
After the Utah Jazz’s 123-112 road win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday, Mitchell gave his seal of approval to George, who led all scorers with 32 points, five rebounds, nine assists, and four three-pointers on 8-for-16 shooting from the field and 12-for-12 shooting from the charity stripe.
“Everything about his focus. He’s talented as hell, man. So, defensive intensity, coverages, and communicating with his teammates… They came in there and just outplayed us. It started with Keyonte George, who deserves to be an All-Star,” Mitchell said of George via Sarah Todd of Deseret News.
“A young fella that I know personally, and I’m excited to see his progress just from last year… I’m happy for him. And then Lauri (Markkanen) is obviously Lauri, so I got to give them credit,” he added.
Utah Jazz News: Keyonte George gets 100% real on being compared to Donovan Mitchell
Keyonte George has drawn comparisons to Donovan Mitchell due to their similar production during their third year with the Utah Jazz. However, while George is honored to receive such recognition, he tries to ignore it to stay grounded.
“When you’re compared to guys like that — I mean he’s an All-Star level player every single year — it gives me a boost of confidence,” George admitted. “It doesn’t put more pressure on me, because I know how old I am, I know how much room I got to grow, and I got an organization that I feel believes in me and is behind me.
“I’m grateful that I’m starting to get that kind of recognition, but Don, he’s done so many great things for this organization, and I’m not even close to that… I look at it as trying to make a competition within myself, not looking at trying to step into Don’s shoes, because those are big shoes to fill,” he continued.
