Jazz G Keyonte George Reveals Biggest Takeaway During Rookie Season
While the start of the 2023-24 season for the Utah Jazz has had its fair share of ups and downs, one of the most notable bright spots of the team comes within the display we’ve seen from rookie point guard Keyonte George.
After being selected 16th overall out of Baylor in the 2023 NBA Draft this past summer, the first-year guard is making his mark in Salt Lake City. Through some eye-opening Summer League games, preseason, and now in the full swing of the regular season, it's becoming apparent the Jazz have a special player on their hands.
Keyonte sat down with us by way of Philips Norelco, whom Keyonte partnered with in the lead up to the draft when he joined Team OneBlade to look and feel his best for the spotlight.. We asked what he’s learned throughout the first quarter of his rookie season in the NBA, where he noted the margin of error sticking out as a substantial factor.
“I think the one takeaway would be, probably understanding the margin of error is small in the league between winning and losing,” Keyonte said. "You know, you could lose big, win big, but I think the mistakes are just really, really small. It could be a three-minute stretch, a two-minute stretch. So, I think it’s the importance, the attention to detail, every possession in the league can kind of lead to a big win or a big loss."
When entering the league as a 19-year-old rookie, there’s going to be a bit of a learning curve matching up against experienced, multi-year league veterans. However, through his first 20+ games, George has continued to show some impressive development that makes him stand out among the rest of his class.
In 24 games, George has averaged an admirable 10.9 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists. Now established as this team’s starting one for now and the foreseeable future, those numbers have all the room to continue jumping up further.
Once we see George get more reps during the season, we likely will see some of those mistakes he mentioned diminish along with it. He’s started the year off shooting 36.1% from the field, 32.0% from three, also averaging 2.3 turnovers a night.
While his numbers efficiency-wise leave a bit more to be desired, we have seen enough tools and flashes from Keyonte to warrant a ton of optimism moving forward. He’s already had three games in which he has posted 10+ assists and eight in which he achieved 15+ points, highlighted by a career-high 30-point masterclass against the Oklahoma City Thunder earlier in the month.
The best part is; its not even halfway through the NBA season. Considering how well Keyonte has developed in just six short months in Salt Lake City, we are bound to see some more appealing strides out of the Jazz point guard of the future.
Off the court, Keyonte has been growing his business acumen, partnering up with brands like Philips Norelco for its Team OneBlade campaign in the leadup to the draft – where he trusted Philips Norelco’s OneBlade 360 to freshen up for ahead of the big moment.
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