Utah Jazz Rookie Donovan Mitchell Honored To Be Subject Of Kobe Bryant’s ‘Detail’ Series

Matthew Moreno
2 Min Read
Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

By leading a surge that put the Utah Jazz in the playoffs, Donovan Mitchell thrust himself into the Rookie of the Year discussion that had been dominated by Philadelphia 76ers point guard Ben Simmons.

The two have traded barbs, both verbally and in the form of clothing, all the while leading their respective teams into the second round. They each have been nothing short of outstanding, though Mitchell made rookie history with a prolific performance in Game 6 in the first round.

Mitchell didn’t fare quite as well against the Houston Rockets in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals, but he was the focal point of Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant’s latest episode of “Detail” on ESPN+.

That type of attention from a five-time champion not only was exciting for Mitchell but enlightening as well, via Eric Woodyard of Deseret News:

“To have a guy like that analyze my game and he was talking as if it was me, which is kind of cool, but there were times where he was basically saying ‘that can’t happen, this can’t happen,’ and I’m laughing because he’s right,” Mitchell explained. “They can’t push me off my spot.

“I can’t catch the ball at half court and little things like that, that you don’t understand until a guy like that breaks it down and the way he broke it down made so much sense and you guys should definitely check it out.”

Mitchell tied for a team high with 21 points in the Game 1 loss, but he shot just 9-for-22 from the field and only made one of seven attempts from deep.

Thus far, Bryant has used “Detail” to analyze his performance in Game 6 of the 2009 Western Conference Finals, and film of Toronto Raptors All-Star DeMar DeRozan after this year’s Game 1 against the Washington Wizards.

Matthew Moreno is a journalist from Whittier, Calif., who is a credentialed reporter and is currently the Managing Editor of DodgerBlue.com and LakersNation.com. In addition to covering Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angels Lakers games, Matthew has a strong passion for keeping up to date with the sneakerhead culture. It began with Michael Jordan and Air Jordan shoes, and has carried over to Kobe Bryant's signature line with Nike. Matthew previously was the lead editor and digital strategist at Dodgers Nation, and the co-editor and lead writer at Reign of Troy, where he covered USC Trojans Football. Matthew graduated from California State Long Beach University with a major in journalism and minor in communications. Contact: matt@mediumlargela.com