SALT LAKE CITY — After being disrespected by Shaquille O'Neal on national television last week, Jazz All-Star Donovan Mitchell now has the support of the Utah House of Representatives behind him.
On Tuesday, by a margin of 67-to-5, the House passed House Resolution 3, a bill that officially "recognizes the exemplary service of Donovan Mitchell to the Utah Jazz and the Utah community."
The bill was sponsored by Rep. Kera Birkeland (R-Morgan) a week after O'Neal told Mitchell that although he was one of his favorite players, he didn't "have what it takes to get to the next level."
Mitchell handed O'Neal a piece of humble pie following the statement by scoring a season-high 36 points on the New Orleans Pelicans.
During a post-game interview, Shaq brought up his comments.
“I said tonight that you are one of my favorite players, but you don’t have what it takes to get to the next level,” O’Neal said. “I said it on purpose because I wanted you to hear it. What do you have to say about that?”
Mitchell answered by simply saying, "Aight." He added that he had heard criticism his entire career and that he's "just going to get better and do what I do."
House Resolution 3 doesn't stop at honoring Mitchell, it points out how O'Neal's playoff free-throw percentage of 50.4% is lower than Mitchell's (88.1%), and that Shaq's infamous box office bomb, "Kazaam," has a 5% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
However, the House of Representatives "recognizes the tremendous impact Shaquille O'Neal, one of the all-time NBA greats, has made in communities throughout the United States through generous donations of his time and resources."
Of course, the bill ends the only way it possibly could.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED "Aight. That's it."
