Utah Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell definitely knows when a crowd is loud.
His arrival in Utah has brought excitement to the team. The Vivint Smart Home Arena, Utah’s homecourt that can accomodate 18,306 fans, was sold out for the entire 2017-18 NBA Season.
And it’s all because of the Rookie of the Year candidate’s exciting play.
During the Philippine stop of his Spida tour, the 21-year-old made sure to pass by the SMART-Araneta Coliseum. It was a good game day to choose. 10,000-plus fans packed the venue as two of the PBA’s most popular teams were facing off.
As he made his way to the court, fans of Ginebra and Magnolia were jeering at one another much to the amazement of Mitchell.
“It’s just so loud in here,” shared Mitchell as he joined the broadcast team of ESPN5.
“This is amazing. I wanna play right now and get on the court.”
Mitchell, who averaged 20.5 points per game during his rookie season, can’t help but compare the Filipino crowd to Utah’s, saying that the passion and intensity are the same.
“We’re the only team that sold out every home game,” he beamed.
“We have fans that eat, sleep, and drink basketball.”
But unlike in the NBA, PBA games are played on neutral ground. That is why Mitchell said that either Ginebra or Magnolia should first take away their opposing fans away from the game to have a better chance of winning.
“There are plenty of teams that make sure to take the crowd away. We make sure to pump our crowd at home while take the crowd away during our away games,” the 6-foot-3 high-flyer shared.
