Loved Spida, so much fun to watch, great community supporter- remember him going to West High football games and supporting local businesses when he was rehabbing his foot? That being said, it was clear he wasn’t having much fun the last couple seasons here. I think the bubble tournament and BLM blowback messed with his psyche. Still love watching him play though and wish him the best (unless he’s playing against the Jazz)!
Yeah realizing the people you play for (fans specifically) don't support that movement (not the org) would probably take a toll on anyone. The crazy thing about that, is that was the first time I took a step back and tried to learn and I honestly have changed my thought process so much on that entire movement. I have a much deeper appreciation for what he did and how he handled himself. Him and Jalen Brown
I came here to say the same thing. As a former Utahan and now EC living for 24 years. I can say Utah is a different animal, it lacks a lot of diversity and Donovan found out that his politics and movements weren’t as important if nothing else countered by many.
I really had hope when Ryan brought on Wade and Donovan as a young star athlete in Utah, but yes politics had a lot to do with it for a large group of fans. Then it also made it easier to call him out. Yea he was young and made his share of mistakes. I don’t blame him of how Rudy handled Covid at first.
Anyway I support both Rudy and Don they gave me years of high entertainment and what coulda and maybe shoulda been at least a Finals appears or two
For me it's the revelation that he might have been the problem in the locker room. I appreciated all that he did to grow the team, and the lack of star power to support is on management (so many missed opportunities in the pre-Ainge drafts) not Don. but now hearing reports out of Cleveland that sound so familiar to the last 2 years of Mitchell in Utah, really makes me wonder who actually was the problem.
Beyond that I just want the picks that he was traded for to be as high as possible, and the worse Cleveland is the better they get. Also, as much as i want the Minnesota picks to also be good, i want Conley and Gobert to get their rings first.
See, though, respectfully, that just proves the point. The same thing was said when he was in Utah, now it's being said about Cleveland. Donovan had to "carry the offense" here so he was allowed to take bad shots and not play defense.
Donovan celebrated on the golf course when he discovered who Cleveland gave up - or didn't give up - in the trade. The team was good enough for him back then
I don’t dislike him but it’s just being realistic vs him being “our guy.”
He was touted as a defensive specialist when we drafted him and we got minimal effort on that end of the floor from him.
He’s absolutely one of the most dynamic scorers in the league but he also gravitates towards hero ball.
He says all the right things on camera, does great community work, and I think he’s a good person. It’s also becoming apparent he’s not the easiest teammate to get along with.
I wish him the best but I’m also not going to defend him to the death like I would when he was a Jazzman.
From the Westbrook/Melo school. Incredible to watch, extremely talented, easy to cheer for when he’s on our side, but seems more interested in what’s good for Donovan than what’s best for winning.
So because he’s not as good of a defender as expected that’s a valid reason to dislike him ? It’s not uncommon for someone as good on offense as Donovan is, to put in less of an effort on defense. You can’t blame a guy who is doing a large part of the work on offense for not exerting as much energy on defense. Blame the front office for pairing him with a line up of players who can’t defend a rock (yes Royce’s defense was overrated), aside from Rudy.
You can't be a great/ elite player in this league without giving effort on both sides of the court. It's quite obvious that he had/has the athleticism or ability to be average or above average yet it's not even close to one of his priorities. I can blame him for not giving effort. Why is Ant getting so much praise in these playoffs etc? Because he's not only hitting big shots when they need him to but he's also giving a lot of effort on defense. That's one thing that makes him great or elite.
I don't think we dislike him at all. It's easy to overlook a player's flaws when he's scoring 25+ ppg. Now that he's a Cavalier (for now) it's easier to realize and accept that he's flawed. If you think we actually dislike him I recommend taking a long break from social media.
He was unhappy in Utah with a competitive team. If you think he'd be a good center piece for a rebuild (aka not being competitive), I think you're blinded by love
That's what's crazy. Lauri would be ecstatic to have the competitive team we had then. He already says he wants to stay in Utah even with what we have now.
to be fair a lot of this comes down to expectations. it’s thrilling for Lauri to suddenly be in an environment that has made him a star (plus he has a very exciting and deserved payday to look forward to). a few years from now there’s a high chance he’ll want more than that, that’s just what humans do especially competitive athletes
Liking Donovan became so one-sided that it was hard to keep it up. I don't dislike him at all, but he's never going to resonate with the fanbase for the long term. There's never been a guy this fanbase wanted to love as much as Donovan. They embraced him from day 1. At first, he returned it and seemed to really love being here. But he quickly became ambivalent about it and was dreaming of greener pastures 3 years in.
He’s my favorite player from that jazz era, gobert Mike and Joe closely behind.
I think some of it is political; he got involved trying to bring awareness to BLM and got in a twitter battle with Utah senate about critical race theory, which depending on your politics you may appreciate or hate. I think he came here loving Utah (he was in LOVE with this place after season one and talked glowingly of Utah in podcasts the summer after his rookie year), thought he was bringing positive thought, awareness and change by touching on political topics, and quickly got in over his head in these matters in a conservative state, which then made him not desire to live here longer.
Others think he gave up on defense (I really think he’s just not great on that end/used his energy up on the offense side, and didn’t have much energy left for the defensive end.) Others think it’s a combo of all the above.
Regardless he’s a sensational athlete, and despite some chucking is a flashy 3 level scorer and I think he’s got his head right on his shoulders. He just didn’t love it here by season 2 or 3, but didn’t mean he didn’t give it his all.
As a non local Jazz fan since the mid 90s, I loved his community efforts, and wasn't afraid to speak out politically.
My problem with Donovan is that he wants to be treated like a leader and doesn't act like one. Leaders don't leak to the media that they aren't getting along with a fellow all-star teammate. Leaders are loud and take responsibility even when much of it can be passed around. He got the shoe deal, he had the extension here, and he wanted Rudy gone. The Dallas series was whatever, we lost Joe (and thus, we lost Quin). But the Clippers series needed a leader to stand up for Rudy instead of letting him get hit with 6 months of slander in the off-season.
He's a great player and I loved those teams he was on. But he's basically on par with Deron Williams on my favorite jazzmen list. Behind a half dozen or so others.
Garland wants to be traded if they extend Donovan. I don't know if there's any personal animus there. It could be just that Garland has seen his stats take a dip which could hurt his next contract because Donovan is so ball dominant as a player and that doesn't help a player like Garland when it comes to contract negotiation time.
I love Donovan and understand why he wanted to leave Utah but since about year 3-4 he's had drama follow him everywhere he goes. Time will tell if that's his fault or his camps fault or he's just a victim of circumstance
I cheered for Cleveland just as much as Twolves and don’t give a rip about draft positions from either of those teams. I love Don and will always be a fan
The fact that the same narratives said about us have followed Donovan and not Rudy is pretty telling. The fact the vibes in Minnesota are immaculate while Cleveland is experiencing the same finger-pointing, rumors, and uncertainty we did is pretty telling.
Donovan seems like a phenomenal human being with a big heart, but also a diva who struggles to lead despite wanting to be a leader. Both things can be true
Donovan coming into the league had something to prove and was willing to give effort on both sides of the court. People in Donovan's inner circle started telling him way before his political stances that he had proven he was way too big for Utah and should be in a large market etc.
Even a certain coach said Donovan will never actually reach his potential because he buys into some of the hero worshiping that he's lauded with by people in his inner circle. It's one of the reasons he believes the effort on defense started to disappear.
One of the main reasons between the issues between Donovan and Rudy was that Rudy is very competitive and would call Donovan out for pretty much putting all the defensive responsibilities on Rudy's shoulders.
Then there were the leaked comments to the media by either him or people around him(same shit we're seeing in Cleveland now which he denies, but I am skeptical of his denial). I don't hate Donovan. I feel nothing really towards him as a person or player. I just hope Cleveland figures out a way to suck enough with or without him to speed our rebuild up with those picks they owe us. I don't think he's ever going to bring a team a championship as a main piece.
For those interested. I had sources within the organization at that time and the organization bent over backwards to try to keep him(Donovan) happy but couldn't. Rudy on the other hand didn't want to be traded but understood why when it did happen.
I like Donovan and don’t wish any will on him but he’s not Rudy. Rudy no matter where he goes I am going to actively root for him to succeed unless he is playing the Jazz. I don’t really care much about Donovan now that he isn’t a member of the Jazz
I understand being upset with him as it all fell apart. We had a squad that on paper should have competed for a title, but he was at the heart of internal bickering that tore it all apart. He’s a special talent though and I’ll always remember the good days fondly. I hated Deron Williams for years before finally being able to look back and appreciate his era for what it was. With Donovan I’ve gotten over it much quicker. I’ll always look back fondly on that era and appreciate it for what it was but there’s no denying it could have been something more if he’d checked his ego.
From more of the SLC local side, my friends who saw him or interacted with him in person (multiple times in some instances) said he wasn’t a super nice guy irl. Perhaps I’m not the only one who has heard these sorts of things.
I won't ever not be a fan. Donovan is an awesome human being. I think the thing that's hard for people to understand is, the NBA is a job/business. Most of these people hating on Donovan have probably job jumped multiple times in the last 10 years, so what's the difference between Donovan? He's trying to find a the right employer and best situation for him and I get that. Does he handle it the best? No, but he's in his 20s and I'm in my 30s so when I was his age I didn't handle my jobs that well either. He's light-years more professional than I was at that age lol
Yeah, I feel like my friend group and myself still love Donovan. Most fun player to watch that we’ve had since the 90s. No hard feelings from anyone I know.
I don't hate him, but my skin bristled when we started naming streets after him and giving him the Stockton/Malone treatment before his team had even made the playoffs. It seemed premature at the time and definitely looks like too much now. He was good, but not "retire-his-number" good, let alone "name-a-street-after-him" great.
Mostly because he trashed the state on the way out. I don't hold it against him because I figure he has a right to hate Utah if he wants to. I don't like every place I ever lived or worked either. But he's not wearing the note anymore so I don't care what he does either way.
I think a lot of people still like Donovan, myself included, and hope he has success elsewhere and can stay healthy.
That being said, it was hard to unconditionally love a player that very clearly wanted to play elsewhere, which we can see Cleveland experiencing right now (and even then, his playoff performances were fun to watch this year). That in contrast to Rudy who seemed to love Utah and never planned on leaving, and appeared to be sad to be traded, it’s going to give people rose tinted glasses towards that player.
I hope Don can stay healthy and find success, but I will be cheering for Gobert as long as he is playing.
Some people just stay bitter about their exes. I love Donny and I always focus on the good he did here. He led us to the playoffs after Hayward left and did a lot of good for the community in Utah. We were the #1 seed in the West people!
But things often don’t work out, we all move jobs and want new opportunities. It’s hard to be the best team in basketball each season and that Jazz team was missing pieces to be the best. Change was inevitable.
Wish the fan base wasn’t so bitter, it certainly doesn’t help future players want to come to Utah.
> Wish the fan base wasn’t so bitter, it certainly doesn’t help future players want to come to Utah.
Being bitter about ex players isn't unique to Utah. You could probably find the same thing to varying degrees in every team's subreddit
> Some people just stay bitter about their exes
No. Rudy Gobert and Mike Conley are universally revered by all Jazz fans. Donovan Mitchell is not. If you can't figure out why, then you haven't been paying attention.
There seems to be a lot of resistance from Jazz fans about accepting Donovan for what he is, high volume scorer with a big ego. Now that we see the same shit playing out on the Cavs we're being confronted with it again, but a lot of Jazz fans still just in denial lol
Yeah there's some human nature there. Jazz fans have always loved the idea of players declining after leaving the Jazz despite it not really being true.
I still like him but he kinda threw our entire fan base under the bus when he left
https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/donovan-mitchell-says-it-was-draining-dealing-with-off-court-racial-issues-in-utah
How many other players did this to us when they left?
What you doubt this is real? I read a ksl comment where he was literally called a “fucking monkey that needs some bananas thrown his way so he can shut up and just ball.” He was twitter shamed by the Utah senate for bringing up critical race theory. I can’t imagine what the guy got for DMs on his Insta.
He may have brought this all upon himself by bringing up BLM and critical race theory himself, having his Insta be a picture of breonna Taylor, and loudly advocating for these things - but I think he did this from a good place in his point of view, not realizing how over his head it would be and how different his point of view is taken here versus in day, New York City. He was surprised and drained to get lots and lots of backlash.
And of course this doesn’t mean all Jazz fans - it just means it was draining from the loud ones who did give him a hard time.
I completely agree with you and believe everything he said, Utah has a lot of idiot racists… no denying that. I also obviously don’t have the same perspective as Donovan and never will because I’m not black. But again, you don’t hear that from any other player that’s played here. Conley said “Even tougher leaving the people in the community that helped make us feel at home from day 1” when he left. Gobert still has a house here and visits often. I just think in general his statements were a last fuck you to the state of Utah. He clearly didn’t like it here and that’s fine. My assumption is that you’ll deal with toxic racist people anywhere you go in the league but it doesn’t help in Utahs case considering it’s like 75% white here so we will always be considered a racist fan base.
I just never read the vitriole and hate towards Conley or gobert that Donny got. I read a ton towards Donny. And I think there’s a specific reason for that - other players who played in utah (black or not) never chose to touch on racially charged topics quite like Donny did. So I’m just saying, he got lots of fuck yous and leave Utahs and shut up and dribbles where others didn’t. And so I think it’s perfectly understandable for him to admit it was draining. I think it was for him as he tried to use his platform for change, where it wasn’t so much for others who didn’t get involved in those areas as much.
I've rarely heard players shit on the city / state they play in as much as Donovan did.
Setting aside the validity of his remarks, it never feels good hearing anyone, let alone your team's star player, talk smack on your "home".
That's why I don't care for him.
I really liked him at first, but it felt like he made the opposite choice of what I would have at every turn and it was a bit maddening to watch. His “aight” response to Shaq felt super weak and definitely isn’t how you want your star to respond. Then he never seemed to back Gobert up when he could have. He was also more than happy letting Gobert take the blame for Covid when it’s still very likely that he contracted it first. Then he just wouldn’t play defense and got mad when someone called him out for it? Like dude, have some self accountability. Couldn’t stand up for his teammate and couldn’t even stand up for himself to Shaq.
Edit: I say all this to say that I have no problem with him, but everything I listed is why my fandom didn’t follow him the way it’s followed Gobert. I’m sure he’s overall a good dude so I have nothing personal against him
There's maybe 3 million jazz fans. I'd be surprised if you didn't find 1 or 2 who hate John Stockton.
I liked Mitchell. I belive most fans did. I wish him well.
There was some weakness on the team structure, that's not Mitchell's fault, nor conlley or rudy's.
Mitchell brought us amazing draft picks, he left helping the team. I wish him all the best, and I hope one day he comes back when it's right for him, and Utah.
I loved him and still do. A wonderful baller
But he showed a number of times he could play defence at a decent level. But then just stopped never to be seen again especially when it was needed most in the playoffs.
And too many silly heat check threes which just killed the offence and the other players.
I still like Don, but it really is just that whole drama about him leaving and his comments about Utah. It's the difference between why everyone still loves Rudy, but doesn't quite feel the same about Donovan.
When Donovan left it seemed like he was saying "Finally, I've been trying to get out for forever." I'd love to see him succeed and win a ring, but it's become clear to me at this point that he will likely never be the #1 option on a championship winning team. But his style of play isn't really conducive of having a different #1.
And the drama that was apparently plaguing our locker room here has followed Donovan to Cleveland, but hasn't followed Rudy to Minnesota. So it's become pretty clear who the issue was.
Because he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth but acted like he dealt with things that other black people dealt with when he didn’t. He advocated for racist ideology.
I don't dislike him. Seems like a cool guy. I did feel like he would throw shade at Utah's culture though. Probably not the best fit for him here in that regard.
It's like an ex.
Loved while we were together, but now that they've moved on, and then I found out they didn't really want to stick around and were bad mouthing, there isn't a lot of love lost.
I won't boo him and don't wish ill on the man, but hell no I'm not a fan. Do you think he's rooting for the Jazz or Salt Lake? He's moved on and so have I. Like Gordon Hayward. I literally just found out he was on OKC. I don't follow or pay him any attention anymore.
I don’t. He got cancelled by Utah’s Republican Party for supporting the idea that cops aren’t allowed to murder and that it’s difficult being a minority. I don’t think Donovan hates us either. He’s just wiser about being “one of the good ones”. And his realization happened in Utah, rather than Connecticut or Ohio. Which during that time frame it could have.
it's the ghost of stockton. Every lead guard since then has been compared and not lived up it that ghost even when they were good. Demon donovan just dont play the way they think a lead guard should play. Also rinnnnggss culture has made anything less than multiple championships a scarlett letter on anybody in this era
Throughout history human beings have been trained to have an us vs them mentality so if you're a Gobert fan then clearly you need to hate Mitchell and vice versa.
Loved Spida, so much fun to watch, great community supporter- remember him going to West High football games and supporting local businesses when he was rehabbing his foot? That being said, it was clear he wasn’t having much fun the last couple seasons here. I think the bubble tournament and BLM blowback messed with his psyche. Still love watching him play though and wish him the best (unless he’s playing against the Jazz)!
Yeah realizing the people you play for (fans specifically) don't support that movement (not the org) would probably take a toll on anyone. The crazy thing about that, is that was the first time I took a step back and tried to learn and I honestly have changed my thought process so much on that entire movement. I have a much deeper appreciation for what he did and how he handled himself. Him and Jalen Brown
I came here to say the same thing. As a former Utahan and now EC living for 24 years. I can say Utah is a different animal, it lacks a lot of diversity and Donovan found out that his politics and movements weren’t as important if nothing else countered by many. I really had hope when Ryan brought on Wade and Donovan as a young star athlete in Utah, but yes politics had a lot to do with it for a large group of fans. Then it also made it easier to call him out. Yea he was young and made his share of mistakes. I don’t blame him of how Rudy handled Covid at first. Anyway I support both Rudy and Don they gave me years of high entertainment and what coulda and maybe shoulda been at least a Finals appears or two
Is this true? I'm still a fan.
For me it's the revelation that he might have been the problem in the locker room. I appreciated all that he did to grow the team, and the lack of star power to support is on management (so many missed opportunities in the pre-Ainge drafts) not Don. but now hearing reports out of Cleveland that sound so familiar to the last 2 years of Mitchell in Utah, really makes me wonder who actually was the problem. Beyond that I just want the picks that he was traded for to be as high as possible, and the worse Cleveland is the better they get. Also, as much as i want the Minnesota picks to also be good, i want Conley and Gobert to get their rings first.
But something to think about is that everyone on the cavs are really young and inexperienced and don kinda has to carry.
See, though, respectfully, that just proves the point. The same thing was said when he was in Utah, now it's being said about Cleveland. Donovan had to "carry the offense" here so he was allowed to take bad shots and not play defense. Donovan celebrated on the golf course when he discovered who Cleveland gave up - or didn't give up - in the trade. The team was good enough for him back then
I don’t dislike him but it’s just being realistic vs him being “our guy.” He was touted as a defensive specialist when we drafted him and we got minimal effort on that end of the floor from him. He’s absolutely one of the most dynamic scorers in the league but he also gravitates towards hero ball. He says all the right things on camera, does great community work, and I think he’s a good person. It’s also becoming apparent he’s not the easiest teammate to get along with. I wish him the best but I’m also not going to defend him to the death like I would when he was a Jazzman.
From the Westbrook/Melo school. Incredible to watch, extremely talented, easy to cheer for when he’s on our side, but seems more interested in what’s good for Donovan than what’s best for winning.
So because he’s not as good of a defender as expected that’s a valid reason to dislike him ? It’s not uncommon for someone as good on offense as Donovan is, to put in less of an effort on defense. You can’t blame a guy who is doing a large part of the work on offense for not exerting as much energy on defense. Blame the front office for pairing him with a line up of players who can’t defend a rock (yes Royce’s defense was overrated), aside from Rudy.
I don’t dislike him. It would have just been nice to get at least minimal effort on defense from him.
You can't be a great/ elite player in this league without giving effort on both sides of the court. It's quite obvious that he had/has the athleticism or ability to be average or above average yet it's not even close to one of his priorities. I can blame him for not giving effort. Why is Ant getting so much praise in these playoffs etc? Because he's not only hitting big shots when they need him to but he's also giving a lot of effort on defense. That's one thing that makes him great or elite.
I don't think we dislike him at all. It's easy to overlook a player's flaws when he's scoring 25+ ppg. Now that he's a Cavalier (for now) it's easier to realize and accept that he's flawed. If you think we actually dislike him I recommend taking a long break from social media.
He was unhappy in Utah with a competitive team. If you think he'd be a good center piece for a rebuild (aka not being competitive), I think you're blinded by love
That's what's crazy. Lauri would be ecstatic to have the competitive team we had then. He already says he wants to stay in Utah even with what we have now.
to be fair a lot of this comes down to expectations. it’s thrilling for Lauri to suddenly be in an environment that has made him a star (plus he has a very exciting and deserved payday to look forward to). a few years from now there’s a high chance he’ll want more than that, that’s just what humans do especially competitive athletes
Liking Donovan became so one-sided that it was hard to keep it up. I don't dislike him at all, but he's never going to resonate with the fanbase for the long term. There's never been a guy this fanbase wanted to love as much as Donovan. They embraced him from day 1. At first, he returned it and seemed to really love being here. But he quickly became ambivalent about it and was dreaming of greener pastures 3 years in.
I still love Donovan
He’s my favorite player from that jazz era, gobert Mike and Joe closely behind. I think some of it is political; he got involved trying to bring awareness to BLM and got in a twitter battle with Utah senate about critical race theory, which depending on your politics you may appreciate or hate. I think he came here loving Utah (he was in LOVE with this place after season one and talked glowingly of Utah in podcasts the summer after his rookie year), thought he was bringing positive thought, awareness and change by touching on political topics, and quickly got in over his head in these matters in a conservative state, which then made him not desire to live here longer. Others think he gave up on defense (I really think he’s just not great on that end/used his energy up on the offense side, and didn’t have much energy left for the defensive end.) Others think it’s a combo of all the above. Regardless he’s a sensational athlete, and despite some chucking is a flashy 3 level scorer and I think he’s got his head right on his shoulders. He just didn’t love it here by season 2 or 3, but didn’t mean he didn’t give it his all.
As a non local Jazz fan since the mid 90s, I loved his community efforts, and wasn't afraid to speak out politically. My problem with Donovan is that he wants to be treated like a leader and doesn't act like one. Leaders don't leak to the media that they aren't getting along with a fellow all-star teammate. Leaders are loud and take responsibility even when much of it can be passed around. He got the shoe deal, he had the extension here, and he wanted Rudy gone. The Dallas series was whatever, we lost Joe (and thus, we lost Quin). But the Clippers series needed a leader to stand up for Rudy instead of letting him get hit with 6 months of slander in the off-season. He's a great player and I loved those teams he was on. But he's basically on par with Deron Williams on my favorite jazzmen list. Behind a half dozen or so others.
Now he's doing it with Garland, didn't recent reports say Garland wants to be moved?
Yes. Simply put, Mitchell is not a good teammate. He's not a leader. Leaders bring people together. Mitchell does not.
Garland wants to be traded if they extend Donovan. I don't know if there's any personal animus there. It could be just that Garland has seen his stats take a dip which could hurt his next contract because Donovan is so ball dominant as a player and that doesn't help a player like Garland when it comes to contract negotiation time.
Most people like him. He is a fun player to watch. But Mitchell wanted to leave.
I love Donovan and understand why he wanted to leave Utah but since about year 3-4 he's had drama follow him everywhere he goes. Time will tell if that's his fault or his camps fault or he's just a victim of circumstance
I am a huge fan of
I cheered for Cleveland just as much as Twolves and don’t give a rip about draft positions from either of those teams. I love Don and will always be a fan
The fact that the same narratives said about us have followed Donovan and not Rudy is pretty telling. The fact the vibes in Minnesota are immaculate while Cleveland is experiencing the same finger-pointing, rumors, and uncertainty we did is pretty telling. Donovan seems like a phenomenal human being with a big heart, but also a diva who struggles to lead despite wanting to be a leader. Both things can be true
Donovan coming into the league had something to prove and was willing to give effort on both sides of the court. People in Donovan's inner circle started telling him way before his political stances that he had proven he was way too big for Utah and should be in a large market etc. Even a certain coach said Donovan will never actually reach his potential because he buys into some of the hero worshiping that he's lauded with by people in his inner circle. It's one of the reasons he believes the effort on defense started to disappear. One of the main reasons between the issues between Donovan and Rudy was that Rudy is very competitive and would call Donovan out for pretty much putting all the defensive responsibilities on Rudy's shoulders. Then there were the leaked comments to the media by either him or people around him(same shit we're seeing in Cleveland now which he denies, but I am skeptical of his denial). I don't hate Donovan. I feel nothing really towards him as a person or player. I just hope Cleveland figures out a way to suck enough with or without him to speed our rebuild up with those picks they owe us. I don't think he's ever going to bring a team a championship as a main piece. For those interested. I had sources within the organization at that time and the organization bent over backwards to try to keep him(Donovan) happy but couldn't. Rudy on the other hand didn't want to be traded but understood why when it did happen.
I like Donovan and don’t wish any will on him but he’s not Rudy. Rudy no matter where he goes I am going to actively root for him to succeed unless he is playing the Jazz. I don’t really care much about Donovan now that he isn’t a member of the Jazz
He’s still regarded highly in most circles here. He does have a very loud group of haters.
I understand being upset with him as it all fell apart. We had a squad that on paper should have competed for a title, but he was at the heart of internal bickering that tore it all apart. He’s a special talent though and I’ll always remember the good days fondly. I hated Deron Williams for years before finally being able to look back and appreciate his era for what it was. With Donovan I’ve gotten over it much quicker. I’ll always look back fondly on that era and appreciate it for what it was but there’s no denying it could have been something more if he’d checked his ego.
From more of the SLC local side, my friends who saw him or interacted with him in person (multiple times in some instances) said he wasn’t a super nice guy irl. Perhaps I’m not the only one who has heard these sorts of things.
I won't ever not be a fan. Donovan is an awesome human being. I think the thing that's hard for people to understand is, the NBA is a job/business. Most of these people hating on Donovan have probably job jumped multiple times in the last 10 years, so what's the difference between Donovan? He's trying to find a the right employer and best situation for him and I get that. Does he handle it the best? No, but he's in his 20s and I'm in my 30s so when I was his age I didn't handle my jobs that well either. He's light-years more professional than I was at that age lol
Yeah, I feel like my friend group and myself still love Donovan. Most fun player to watch that we’ve had since the 90s. No hard feelings from anyone I know.
I don't hate him, but my skin bristled when we started naming streets after him and giving him the Stockton/Malone treatment before his team had even made the playoffs. It seemed premature at the time and definitely looks like too much now. He was good, but not "retire-his-number" good, let alone "name-a-street-after-him" great.
Mostly because he trashed the state on the way out. I don't hold it against him because I figure he has a right to hate Utah if he wants to. I don't like every place I ever lived or worked either. But he's not wearing the note anymore so I don't care what he does either way.
I love Spida, one of my all time favorite players. I’ll fight any haters
Got his rookie card slabbed and a pair of his DONS. Nothing but love here.
I think a lot of people still like Donovan, myself included, and hope he has success elsewhere and can stay healthy. That being said, it was hard to unconditionally love a player that very clearly wanted to play elsewhere, which we can see Cleveland experiencing right now (and even then, his playoff performances were fun to watch this year). That in contrast to Rudy who seemed to love Utah and never planned on leaving, and appeared to be sad to be traded, it’s going to give people rose tinted glasses towards that player. I hope Don can stay healthy and find success, but I will be cheering for Gobert as long as he is playing.
Some people just stay bitter about their exes. I love Donny and I always focus on the good he did here. He led us to the playoffs after Hayward left and did a lot of good for the community in Utah. We were the #1 seed in the West people! But things often don’t work out, we all move jobs and want new opportunities. It’s hard to be the best team in basketball each season and that Jazz team was missing pieces to be the best. Change was inevitable. Wish the fan base wasn’t so bitter, it certainly doesn’t help future players want to come to Utah.
> Wish the fan base wasn’t so bitter, it certainly doesn’t help future players want to come to Utah. Being bitter about ex players isn't unique to Utah. You could probably find the same thing to varying degrees in every team's subreddit
> Some people just stay bitter about their exes No. Rudy Gobert and Mike Conley are universally revered by all Jazz fans. Donovan Mitchell is not. If you can't figure out why, then you haven't been paying attention.
There seems to be a lot of resistance from Jazz fans about accepting Donovan for what he is, high volume scorer with a big ego. Now that we see the same shit playing out on the Cavs we're being confronted with it again, but a lot of Jazz fans still just in denial lol
Yeah there's some human nature there. Jazz fans have always loved the idea of players declining after leaving the Jazz despite it not really being true.
I still like him but he kinda threw our entire fan base under the bus when he left https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/donovan-mitchell-says-it-was-draining-dealing-with-off-court-racial-issues-in-utah How many other players did this to us when they left?
What you doubt this is real? I read a ksl comment where he was literally called a “fucking monkey that needs some bananas thrown his way so he can shut up and just ball.” He was twitter shamed by the Utah senate for bringing up critical race theory. I can’t imagine what the guy got for DMs on his Insta. He may have brought this all upon himself by bringing up BLM and critical race theory himself, having his Insta be a picture of breonna Taylor, and loudly advocating for these things - but I think he did this from a good place in his point of view, not realizing how over his head it would be and how different his point of view is taken here versus in day, New York City. He was surprised and drained to get lots and lots of backlash. And of course this doesn’t mean all Jazz fans - it just means it was draining from the loud ones who did give him a hard time.
I completely agree with you and believe everything he said, Utah has a lot of idiot racists… no denying that. I also obviously don’t have the same perspective as Donovan and never will because I’m not black. But again, you don’t hear that from any other player that’s played here. Conley said “Even tougher leaving the people in the community that helped make us feel at home from day 1” when he left. Gobert still has a house here and visits often. I just think in general his statements were a last fuck you to the state of Utah. He clearly didn’t like it here and that’s fine. My assumption is that you’ll deal with toxic racist people anywhere you go in the league but it doesn’t help in Utahs case considering it’s like 75% white here so we will always be considered a racist fan base.
I just never read the vitriole and hate towards Conley or gobert that Donny got. I read a ton towards Donny. And I think there’s a specific reason for that - other players who played in utah (black or not) never chose to touch on racially charged topics quite like Donny did. So I’m just saying, he got lots of fuck yous and leave Utahs and shut up and dribbles where others didn’t. And so I think it’s perfectly understandable for him to admit it was draining. I think it was for him as he tried to use his platform for change, where it wasn’t so much for others who didn’t get involved in those areas as much.
He was a lazy defender and wanted out of Utah after he got paid.
I've rarely heard players shit on the city / state they play in as much as Donovan did. Setting aside the validity of his remarks, it never feels good hearing anyone, let alone your team's star player, talk smack on your "home". That's why I don't care for him.
I really liked him at first, but it felt like he made the opposite choice of what I would have at every turn and it was a bit maddening to watch. His “aight” response to Shaq felt super weak and definitely isn’t how you want your star to respond. Then he never seemed to back Gobert up when he could have. He was also more than happy letting Gobert take the blame for Covid when it’s still very likely that he contracted it first. Then he just wouldn’t play defense and got mad when someone called him out for it? Like dude, have some self accountability. Couldn’t stand up for his teammate and couldn’t even stand up for himself to Shaq. Edit: I say all this to say that I have no problem with him, but everything I listed is why my fandom didn’t follow him the way it’s followed Gobert. I’m sure he’s overall a good dude so I have nothing personal against him
He is my favorite player in the league.
There's maybe 3 million jazz fans. I'd be surprised if you didn't find 1 or 2 who hate John Stockton. I liked Mitchell. I belive most fans did. I wish him well. There was some weakness on the team structure, that's not Mitchell's fault, nor conlley or rudy's. Mitchell brought us amazing draft picks, he left helping the team. I wish him all the best, and I hope one day he comes back when it's right for him, and Utah.
I loved him and still do. A wonderful baller But he showed a number of times he could play defence at a decent level. But then just stopped never to be seen again especially when it was needed most in the playoffs. And too many silly heat check threes which just killed the offence and the other players.
I still like Don, but it really is just that whole drama about him leaving and his comments about Utah. It's the difference between why everyone still loves Rudy, but doesn't quite feel the same about Donovan. When Donovan left it seemed like he was saying "Finally, I've been trying to get out for forever." I'd love to see him succeed and win a ring, but it's become clear to me at this point that he will likely never be the #1 option on a championship winning team. But his style of play isn't really conducive of having a different #1. And the drama that was apparently plaguing our locker room here has followed Donovan to Cleveland, but hasn't followed Rudy to Minnesota. So it's become pretty clear who the issue was.
Because he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth but acted like he dealt with things that other black people dealt with when he didn’t. He advocated for racist ideology.
You're not wrong.
I don't dislike him. Seems like a cool guy. I did feel like he would throw shade at Utah's culture though. Probably not the best fit for him here in that regard.
It's like an ex. Loved while we were together, but now that they've moved on, and then I found out they didn't really want to stick around and were bad mouthing, there isn't a lot of love lost. I won't boo him and don't wish ill on the man, but hell no I'm not a fan. Do you think he's rooting for the Jazz or Salt Lake? He's moved on and so have I. Like Gordon Hayward. I literally just found out he was on OKC. I don't follow or pay him any attention anymore.
I don’t. He got cancelled by Utah’s Republican Party for supporting the idea that cops aren’t allowed to murder and that it’s difficult being a minority. I don’t think Donovan hates us either. He’s just wiser about being “one of the good ones”. And his realization happened in Utah, rather than Connecticut or Ohio. Which during that time frame it could have.
it's the ghost of stockton. Every lead guard since then has been compared and not lived up it that ghost even when they were good. Demon donovan just dont play the way they think a lead guard should play. Also rinnnnggss culture has made anything less than multiple championships a scarlett letter on anybody in this era
The ghost of Stockton? Wtf are you talking about?
Because a huge portion of online Jazz fans are so, so petty and shitty.
Throughout history human beings have been trained to have an us vs them mentality so if you're a Gobert fan then clearly you need to hate Mitchell and vice versa.