Donovan Mitchell inches closer to Jazz rookie scoring record

With 24 points against the Pelicans Wednesday night, Donovan Mitchell inched closer to a 27-year-old franchise record. Last night’s game marked Mitchell’s 16th game with 20+ points, putting him two shy of Karl Malone (18) and 34 short of Darrel Griffith (50). It’s probably safe to assume that Mitchell will pass Malone within the next few games, but Griffith’s record will be a great challenge for Mitchell to finish the season. With 44 games remaining, Mitchell will need to score 20 or more in 35 of those contests to break Dr. Dunkenstein’s record.

No one is putting this past Mitchell just yet, as he has shown that the surely has the capability of putting up 20 points on a nightly basis. Last night he recorded a season-high in free-throw attempts, which is a good sign of him getting to the rim and being aggressive despite some early game struggles.

Donovan Mitchell also made some headlines doing something non-basketball related, as a video surfaced of him inviting a young fan onto the court during pregame warm ups.

The Jazz honored LDS President Thomas S. Monson and his passing with a moment of silence before Wednesday night’s game. President Monson was a lifelong Jazz fan and a huge staple in the community and Utah’s culture, a great man and an example of kindness and service.

With everyone rooting for Donovan Mitchell to get into the NBA Dunk Contest, the rookie responded to the requests and said he would “definitely do it”.

“I’ll do it,” Mitchell said. “But if you’ve seen Aaron Gordon, Derrick Jones (Jr.), and all those guys, I’m not gonna win it. But I’ll do it. …

“I keep telling people this joke. I grew up with Derrick Jones, like around him for a long time. I’ve probably done 13 dunk contests in my life. I lost 12 to Derrick Jones.”

“So I would definitely do it. I got some dunks that I think would be cool.”

Mitchell would no-doubt do some amazing things in the dunk contest, so here’s to hoping the NBA gives him a chance.

The Salt Lake Tribune featured Jazz Center Ekpe Udoh’s notorious book club and its fun impact on the community. The feature outlined the history of Udoh’s book club, as well as his motivation and story behind starting the club years ago. Several club members were interviewed and voiced their opinions on the club and what it’s meant to the them and others in the community.

“It means so much to the community that he takes the time to do this,” Jazz fan and group member Katherine Whalen said. “I’m an avid reader, and my husband [Mark] told me about it. I’ve never read a book like this. I loved the perspective gained from each person. That was the most profound thing about it.”

Udoh also talked about his love for reading and education, as well as why he does the book club from a personal standpoint.

“It’s special being here and doing this. Take away what I do, I’m still human, I still have a passion to get kids and people to read.”