Donovan Mitchell scored a season-high 36 points in the Utah Jazz's win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday but was quickly confronted with Shaquille O'Neal's criticism on TNT's broadcast.
Donovan's response when Shaq tells him he doesn't have what it takes to get to the next level:
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 22, 2021
"Aight." pic.twitter.com/t64PxpeTFD
Mitchell was asked about the awkward exchange afterward and brushed it off.
“We're on a seven-game win streak right now, we're playing good basketball. I hate to take a win like this and make it about what they said about me," the Jazz guard said, according to the Salt Lake Tribune's Eric Walden. "You look at how we played and guarded, I'm happy."
Earlier in the program, O'Neal and Charles Barkley said Mitchell's impact is limited to scoring.
Jazz center Rudy Gobert - who's also received criticism from Shaq - said the proof was in the pudding by winning.
"I think that at the end of the day, whatever they want to call us, if we keep winning games, they're going to have to watch us anyway," Gobert said. "Hopefully they get to watch us until July, and then they can call us whatever they want."
Mitchell, named an All-Star for the first time last season, is averaging career highs in scoring, assists, and 3-point percentage this campaign.
