4. Friday, Nov. 15 vs. Utah Jazz — Donovan Mitchell arrives
Ben Simmons was a landslide winner for Rookie of the Year this past season. Finishing a very distant second was Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz.
While Simmons was setting records for most triple-doubles by a rookie (finishing second only to Oscar Robertson all-time), Mitchell was scoring a lot for the Jazz, and that was basically all he contributed. He never had a triple-double, an accomplishment even Markelle Fultz was able to achieve in his limited playing time.
Mitchell certainly had a very good rookie season, just not as good as Simmons. Whether it was in fun or truly trying to shake up the voters, Mitchell began a campaign to insinuate that Simmons was not really a rookie.
Simmons had been drafted in 2016 but had missed the entire season due to a broken foot, so the 2017-18 season was the first time he took the court in an NBA game which, according to league rules, made him a rookie.
Of course, that gave all kinds of hoops experts a chance to bloviate on who was the real rookie, Mitchell or Simmons.
When the actual voting was held, it showed that Simmons was indeed considered a real rookie. After the vote, Mitchell was cordial to Simmons and offered his congratulations.
But when the Jazz come to town, it is more likely fans will remember how Mitchell tried to use some shade to get the rookie award away from Simmons and he will hear:
Boo!!!