Mitchell Becomes Fastest Jazzman To 3,000 Points
Mar 6, 2019, 7:31 PM | Updated: 8:48 pm
Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (45) greets his girlfriend Deja Lighty as the exits the floor after the Utah Jazz defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 115-111 at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City on Saturday, March 2, 2019. (Scott Winterton, Deseret News)
(Scott Winterton, Deseret News)
NEW ORLEANS, La. – At the end of the first half in the Utah Jazz’s road contest against the New Orleans Pelicans, Donovan Mitchell became the quickest Jazzman to reach the 3,000-point mark.
Going into the game in New Orleans, Mitchell had scored 2,989 points in 130 career games. By scoring exactly 11 points in the first half he beat out Darrell Griffith as the fastest Jazzman to hit the milestone.
Interestingly, both Mitchell and Griffith attended the University of Louisville.
With 11 points tonight, Donovan has reached 3,000 career points in his 139th game. This makes him the quickest Jazz player to reach 3,000 points 👀
The next closest was Darrell Griffith, who did so in his first 150 games. pic.twitter.com/wfxdAo1mgY— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 7, 2019
Fans of the game will remember that Mitchell paid homage to Griffith, who played for Utah from 1980 to 1991, by wearing his jersey while throwing down a contest-clinching jam in the 2018 NBA Slam Dunk Contest.
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Griffith was also recently in Salt Lake City to chat with Mitchell and participate in a roundtable discussion with other Jazz legends.
On Friday, Jazz alumni Bryon Russell, Darrell Griffith, Mark Eaton, Thurl Bailey, Corey Crowder & Mehmet Okur were back in Salt Lake City.
We loved having so many Jazzmen across eras together sharing memories ❤️
📺: https://t.co/scqVAxhb53#LegendaryMoments | @budweiserusa pic.twitter.com/mSZSqoBK7m
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 5, 2019
Mitchell has often stated his admiration for Griffith’s legacy. Now he can claim to have beaten him to a major milestone as it took Griffith 150 games to hit 3,000 points.
In the grand scope, Mitchell became the fifth-fastest to 3,000 points behind NBA legends like Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, Mitch Richmond and Allen Iverson. Jordan holds the record by reaching the mark in just 108 games.
