Ajay Mitchell shines in NBA’s Summer League
Ajay Mitchell, the third Belgian ever to play in the NBA, is showing off his talent in the summer tournament of the American basketball league. The 22-year-old point guard from Liège became top scorer for his team, Oklahoma City Thunder, with 21 points against Miami on Monday.
Mitchell also created five assists in his 24 minutes of playing time. Despite the Belgian's performance, his team fell to a 102-73 defeat.
On Saturday, Mitchell also scored 15 points in Oklahoma’s 94-69 defeat to Toronto. In his debut match, against Philadelphia, he scored 14 points and created four assists.
The Summer League is a tournament in the NBA in which clubs often give playing time to new, promising players. It began on Friday and runs until 22 July in Las Vegas.
Mitchell became the third Belgian ever to be drafted in the NBA last month. He follows Axel Hervelle in 2005, who never actually played a match in the NBA, and Toumani Camara last year, who went on to impress in his first season with the Portland Trail Blazers. Didier 'DJ' Mbenga also played in the NBA, and won the league twice with the LA Lakers, but was never picked in a draft.
Mitchell was selected as the 38th player by New York before being transferred to Oklahoma City. He signed a "two-way" contract with Oklahoma, under which he could play for the first team or the development team in the G League.
He is the son of the former American basketball player Barry Mitchell, who played for various teams in Belgium, and a Belgian mother. He grew up in Liège and played for teams including Limburg United. To fulfill his NBA dream, he moved to the US several years ago and played in the US college circuit at the University of Santa Barbara.
Ajay Mitchell playing for UC Santa Barbara, March 2023 in Denver, Colorado © PHOTO SEAN M. HAFFEY/GETTY IMAGES/AFP
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