https://youtu.be/5qbT1f24cAQ
Royce O’Neale is just finishing up his fourth season with the Jazz, and the Jazz have been a good-to-great team for the entirety of his tenure there. For most of that time, the general consensus around the league is that O’Neale is a valuable 3&D role-player whose presence makes the team better. While not yet embedded into the consciousness of the average NBA fan, O’Neale is the kind of guy that fans in the know will acknowledge as being a key component of the Jazz’s success. You can tell this is true because I’m a “fan in the know” and I am currently acknowledging O’Neale’s value as a player.
Given that you only ever hear good things about O’Neale and not bad things, it might come as a surprise that his career high is a paltry 21 points, and he’s only had one other twenty-point game in his career (back in January of this year). How could a player who has been a full-time starter for the past two seasons, who was EIGHTEENTH in total minutes played this season, who is universally beloved as the ideal role-player to put next to a high-usage star like Donovan Mitchell, have a career high that is only 21 points? It seems ridiculous. It is ridiculous. But it’s the truth. I would never lie to my subscribers by manufacturing frivolous career highs out of thin air, except when I inadvertently do that exact thing by forgetting to look at playoff games when calculating a player’s career high.
Trust me, I have looked at every game O’Neale has played in both the regular season and the playoffs, and this is the most points he’s ever scored. You can go to basketball-reference yourself if you want to verify my claims. I’ll be insulted that you feel the need to verify my claims, but I can’t stop you.
The Jazz’s season is over now, but they can rest easy knowing that their high-end 3&D dude is under contract for a few more seasons. O’Neale is just entering his prime now, so who knows, maybe he can up his scoring to 8 PPG. Then the Jazz will definitely make it to the WCF Conference Finals for real.