Since 2017, Donovan Mitchell has been a pioneer, setting and breaking records for Utah Jazz, the National Basketball Association (NBA), for which he plays. While playing for the NBA team based in Salt Lake City, he was initially recruited by the Denver Nuggets in the 2017 NBA Draft but didn’t get to play for them as he left soon after to join his current franchise in a profession.
A twist of fate offered Donovan’s star the opportunity to shine when he replaced Aaron Gordon in the 2018 NBA Slam Dunk competition. Gordon had suffered an overload of the left hip flexor muscles, allowing Donovan to win by 48 and 50 points in the first round, followed by 50 and 48 points in the final round. In addition to winning this year’s coveted Slam Dunk competition, the first rookie to do so since Zach LaVine, Donovan also had several other successes by newcomers.
Donovan Mitchell Bio, Age
The Slam Dunker was born on 7 September 1996 in Elmsford, New York, where he also grew up. His parents are Donovan Mitchell Sr. and Nicole Mitchell, and there is also a younger sister named Jordan in the picture.
He received his early formal education at various schools, including Greenwich Country Day School and Canterbury School – both in Connecticut. He then spent his junior and senior years at the Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, and expanded his skills as a baller in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) programs for The City and Riverside Hawks, which took him out of New York.
Before deciding to play basketball, he also played a little baseball in his high school, but decided to play only basketball for the University of Louisville. In the first year he was awarded 7.4 points, 1.7 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game. In his second college season he raised the bar a little higher, averaging 15.6 points, 2.7 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game. As a reward for his efforts, he was awarded the title “First Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference”. He then declared his intention to play in the big league and entered the 2017 NBA draft.
The Denver Nuggets picked him up with the 13th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, but he was unable to play with the team because he was sent to Utah Jazz in exchange for Tyler Lydon and Trey Lyles. Mitchell Donovan officially signed his first NBA contract with Jazz on July 5, 2017. He then made history when he scored 37 points in a game against the Memphis Grizzlies, which went down in history as the highest ever score in the 2017 NBA Summer League.
He played his first game in the NBA on October 18, 2017, against the Denver Nuggets. The 41 points Mitchell Donovan scored on December 1, 2017, broke the record for a newcomer to the jazz soccer league, and he met him not only once but twice, the second time on February 2, 2018, and was ranked as one of the NBA rookies among the likes of Blake Griffin and Allen Iverson who scored up to 40 points in a single game.
With a productive rookie season behind him, it was time for the awards, and they kept coming back. The appointment as an injury replacement for Aaron Gordon on February 5th, 2018 brought Donovan another award on the shelf when he won the 2018 NBA Slam Dunk competition. He is the first rookie since Zach LaVine to receive the trophy.
Among his countless accomplishments as a rookie are being named Western Conference Rookie of the Month (three times in the same season) and setting a record for the most three-point records in a season. Mitchell Donovan continued his series of records, breaking them in no time at all, and was eventually named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team on May 22, 2018.
Dad
Donovan Mitchell is probably so good at what he does because he grew up in a sporting environment. His father, Donovan Mitchell Sr., was Director of Player Relations for the New York Mets for several years and before that he held many positions in the Astros Minor League system.
If there was one thing we knew about Senior Mitchell, it was that he is super proud of his son and watches him play at every opportunity. Who wouldn’t be a proud father for one of the hottest players in the NBA?
His Girlfriend
Her name is Deja Lighty and her beauty matches the basketball star she is with. Although it is not clear how or when they met, they seem to be a perfect match. They are often seen together at games or just growing up on PDAs. Her LinkedIn profile says that she works with the Cleveland Cavaliers as an account manager.
Donovan Mitchell Height, Weight
Measuring 6 feet 2 inches (1.9 m), Donovan Mitchell defies the stereotype of a very large baller that has a better chance of performing than smaller ballers. Although his size is quite impressive, he cannot be counted among the tallest, but he has achieved more in one year than most taller players. He weighs a comfortable 95 kg and has a wingspan of 2.08 m.