San Francisco • Back when Donovan Mitchell became a lock to play for Team USA at the FIBA World Cup in China this past summer, there was some concern over how the extra workload might impact his NBA season.
Ten games in, it’s fair to say there’s been an impact — though not the one many expected.
“Donovan is a star in the making on the court,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr, a Team USA assistant, said before Monday night’s game vs. the Jazz at the Chase Center. “He’s already a star off the court.”
Mitchell is off to the best start of his young career, and he, Kerr and Jazz coach Quin Snyder all believe his World Cup experience played a big part.
Kerr recalled being impressed with the young guard’s humility and eagerness to be coached then, and expressed awe at how he’s been able to so quickly translate what he learned this summer.
“My impression was just, ‘What an incredible human being he is.’ A leader, just the character, everything about him jumped off the page. What a special person he is. He’s coachable to the nth degree — you can say anything to him, talk to him about anything, and he soaks it up and wants to hear more,” Kerr said. “But the way his teammates revered him, the way his coaches felt about him — he’s a special player, a special person. As a player, he’s really good getting to the basket, athletic, strong, confident. And getting better as he gets older and learns how to refine all that talent.”
Snyder later added that Kerr made it a point to send him Mitchell-related updates throughout the summer, and recalled that what stood out was not analyses of him picking up this move or that scheme, but simply his enthusiasm for the process of getting better.
From that perspective, Mitchell being put into the crucible of becoming a focal point on the national team has helped him forge qualities that are now helping the Jazz.
“Donovan’s always been acutely aware of those things, but to be in a situation where every possession matters, in that stint there’s fewer games, you’re always on the road — there’s different types of challenges and pressure that come in the international competition,” Snyder said. “… Playing for coach Pop and Steve, a great opportunity to be around coaches who have coached some of the best players to ever play the game. I think he just was a sponge and soaked as much up as he could. … Just another experience, and a unique one; anytime you have those, you have an opportunity to grow. And I think Donovan was aware of that and really tried to take advantage of it.”
Snyder believes that Mitchell specifically benefitted in terms of improved offensive efficiency, as well as defensive intensity.
The guard himself cited the improvement in his defense and leadership skills as the areas to most obviously improve from his time in China.
“Being able to take guys from different teams and being able to jell into one in such a short time, it allowed me to kinda become that leader. That really did help me. Being able to be held accountable and hold others accountable,” he said. “… [And] being able to defend the best perimeter player every game allowed me to just get that swagger back on the defensive end. That was something I always had, and I wouldn’t say I lost it completely, but being able to make that a primary focus was great.”
For his part, while Kerr said seeing Mitchell’s improvement up close was something he took pride in over the summer, he joked he was feeling pangs of regret about it in the lead-up to Monday’s matchup.
“I really enjoyed being around him this summer, and not looking forward to playing against him tonight,” he quipped.
