Subscribe
Follow Us
This time last year, Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert became the first NBA player to contract the coronavirus, leading to the suspension of the NBA season. At the time, Gobert made it a point to touch everything, mess with his teammates, and purposely do the exact opposite of what one should do during a pandemic. It ultimately led to reports of a feud between Gobert and fellow Jazz star Donovan Mitchell.
However, it seems they squashed that feud heading into the NBA Bubble. Considering the Utah Jazz are currently ranked first in the Western Conference, the differences between Gobert and Mitchell have seemed to have fizzled out for the Jazz as a whole. If you ask Spida himself, he'll say it even helped.
The two Jazz frontmen have been doubted their entire careers. Gobert was a late, first-round selection, whereas Mitchell was hesitant of even entering the draft. They've both have had to listen to doubters throughout their careers, and it seems the reported feud amongst each other only strengthened their relationship, per the Athletic.
Article Continues Below
“We have a competitive energy in common and that helped us,” Mitchell said. “Our mindset was like, Forget y'all. You guys don’t think we can do this.' Anytime we hear what we can't do, we want to go out and prove that wrong.'
Even though the Jazz didn't win the championship last year, the conversation between the two Utah superstars has stuck with Rudy Gobert since.
“I think the conversation we had before camp was very important,” Gobert told The Athletic. “We decided that we were going to grow up and do what's best for the team. At the end of the day, we all wanted to win. That's all we wanted, was to win. It was a test for us.”
Solving their differences has led to great success for the Jazz so far. They're playing like the best team in the league right now, and have a real chance at securing the first seed for the playoffs. Catch Utah's next game on Friday night, as they take on a depleted Houston Rockets team.
