Stockton didn’t. Malone didn’t. Dantley didn’t. Boozer didn’t. Williams didn’t. Ostertag didn’t. Billy the Whopper Paultz didn’t. Hayward most certainly did not.
What Donovan Mitchell said to Adrian Wojnarowski during his recent ESPN podcast was more than a reflection of the way things work in the modern NBA, it was, for around these parts, singular, significant and nothing short of spectacular, an appropriate follow-up to a remarkable rookie season. Such confidence this kid has, and swagger and nerve and … well, cool.
The Jazz have never had a player with the combo-pack of talent and charisma, the tethered status and charm necessary to influence what free agents of import might at least consider doing — coming to play in Utah.