After reports that Donovan Mitchell was incensed about not being cleared to play in the Utah Jazz loss against the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 1 of their playoff series, a Jazz insider has stated that there may be a lingering issue between Mitchell’s training staff and the team’s staff.
That confirms what I'm hearing as well: that this is kind of a power struggle between Mitchell's training staff and Jazz training staff over who gets to make the decisions on Mitchell's recovery and availability.
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) May 24, 2021
The Jazz are no strangers to off-court dramas.
Last year, there were rumors of an unsalvageable rift between Mitchell and Rudy Gobert after the latter’s careless behavior upon testing positive for COVID-19. The franchise cornerstones appear to have made up since then and helped lead Utah to the top of the NBA standings.
As the No. 1 seed Jazz look to contend for the championship this year, they will likely need a healthy Mitchell to be on the court.
The two-time All-Star led the team with 26.4 points and 3.4 3-pointers made per game in the regular season. He also averaged 5.2 assists per game, which ranked second in the team behind Mike Conley.
