Earlier this week, the Jazz officially extended franchise cornerstone Donovan Mitchell on a five-year, designated rookie max extension that could be worth up to $195MM. It was a major move for Utah, ensuring that the 2017 first-round pick will remain with the organization for the foreseeable future.
The Jazz’s focus will now look to establish itself as a formidable postseason threat for years to come, led by the New York native. Coming off his first All-Star game selection, Mitchell talked about the Jazz’s early exit from the playoffs this past season and his hopes for the future.
Eric Walden of The Salt Lake City Tribune also relays Mitchell’s thoughts on his personal on-court improvement and his ultimate legacy off of it.
Mitchell on his mindset now that he’s signed for the long haul:
“We have good pieces to make a real push for this thing. We blew a 3-1 lead [in the playoffs] this year. I look at it as we need to find a way to get over that hump in the first round and find a way to push and get to a championship. That’s really on the forefront of my brain.”
Mitchell on what he wants his lasting legacy to be:
“Championships are great, games are great, but at the end of the day, I’m a Black man first. That’s the legacy I want to be able to tell my kids, ‘Look, your dad was a part of this, your dad was a part of that.’ This game is great, this game has allowed my family to live the way we live. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t hide you from being Black, doesn’t hide you from the injustices of the world.”
Working with assistant coach Johnnie Bryant to improve his shooting ability:
“There are times where I take bad shots. Being able to hear his honesty and let me know that it’s a bad shot — more than my teammates would — that’s where our relationship really had accelerated.”
Why does skin color need to be brought up in basketball?
Because (according to his statement) off-the-court issues are more important to him than the basketball which provides him the opportunity to speak directly to what he wants to accomplish as a person?
Also, his statement there is clearly paraphrased, and chopped out of its context. If he was asked the question and gave that answer, then what’s the problem?
Again you missed the point, not surprised viewership is down 70 percent since Kobe/shaq era.
That both of us feel that the other has “missed the point” is the problem.
The sport doesn’t exist in a vacuum…more than stats and numbers, and the game doesnt end when the clock stops. That is why you read a website called Hoops Rumors and not just box scores. He is black and talking about his experience as a black person. Sorry if the sport is now ruined for u.
Can’t say I disagree. No coincidence people are turned off to the product whenever they start shoving politics and race into sports.
Okay maybe you should stick to sports played by robots then. Politics and race are unfortunately part of the human condition
Encouraging people to vote for a certain candidate, blasting the president, Black Lives Matter insignia on the court and jerseys, kneeling. People don’t watch sports to be reminded that the world is going to crap.
I am pretty sure he can bring up anything he wants to.
It’s pretty easy to make your legacy your skin color/race. He was born with it. Bringing that up may have something to do with Utah the place, and could be a signal of availability. Then again, context is missing.
In addition, your argument about viewership being down has been disproved time and again. All live television ratings are down from 20 years ago…yet politics has always been part of sports (ever heard of Bill Russell? Or outside of basketball the 1980s olympics?). I would say I couldn’t think you were any dumber but I already consider you pretty dum
MJ did it best when he said Republicans buy sneakers too. He didn’t alienate any sort of group or color or affiliation and thus had widespread fan support like almost no other.
Nowadays, it feels like they’re really trying to appeal to the Democratic side of the coin and just liberally throwing things out there. Bringing up your race as your legacy is questionable to me.
What is questionable about it exactly?
These guys don’t exist to entertain middle-class white folk.
All due respect, they don’t exist to be politicians either. Their basketball platform as celebrities allows them to say a bunch of things that is really just propaganda.
Just bringing race into sports. If you retire and want to be a part of the cause, that’s totally understandable. But doing it while playing seems like a distraction to me. Like how much are they actually enjoying playing the game or is it actually the platform they get?
The NBA is a black league. It just is. You are essentially saying “don’t be black. Or “if you’ve gotta be black, can you shut up about it?” I just have to ask why that is?
That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying that basketball is a global sport. It is primarily black players, but it’s not just black people watching. There’s European fans, Asian fans, conservative fans from the south and places like Utah and Indiana. When you start making it about one race, that’s going to alienate others.
Okay, then should NFL do away with breast cancer awareness month because it limits the sports appeal to only people with breast cancer? No one is making the sport about one race, they are elevating social issues that deal with something that happens to impact the majority of the league.
I understand you and many others view sports as an escape, but if the players can’t escape these things themselves, how can you expect them to create an environment for you to do as such?
That’s the thing. The players have escaped these things. Outside of the occasional racist fan in the crowd somewhere like Boston or Utah, they are making millions and are in a league that empowers them more than any other. It’s real easy for the max contract guys making millions to say this and act like they’ve got nothing to lose. But how about the players in the G-league that depend on each paycheck? If you stop the play or stand for the justice away from the game too long, you’re going to lose money and those dudes are gonna go broke. They made a real bold call doing the bubble with all the BLM theme, because they lost a lot of money and ratings going that route.
They’ve escaped it? Tell that to Masai Ujiri. Low ratings, as mentioned in the beginning, are correlated with BLM. And if your argument is “if you want to get paid, you should shut up” I’m not sure what is left for me to say.
Low rating are NOT correlated with BLM!
They’re living in gated neighborhoods, taken care of by owners that pay them bunches, and they’re doing what they love. They have escaped it. They’ve made something of themselves.
And if you don’t think BLM had something to do with low sports ratings, I think you’re just overlooking it. There’s really no great excuse for having a summer full of hoops, and people watching in low numbers. It’s not like they had football to compete with.
“The NBA is a black league”
Firstly, wrong. Secondly, racist. Good thing it’s wrong.
How is it wrong, or racist? The majority of the players in the league are black. I’ll wait…
Why does it seem like Giannis is the only superstar that looks like he is not happy with his team because he has not indicated that he will sign a max extension? Mitchell and others are signing max contracts with the teams that they have been with. Does Utah have a better chance than MIL to win a championship? Is Giannis in a unique situation or is this more media driven BS?
Last I heard, Giannis is still in Greece and not talking contract til he returns.
This could also just be pro-Bucks psycho-babble. Most commentators seem to think he’s staying, but it’s not the slam dunk it seemed when the Bogdan deal fell through.
Or maybe AD and Giannis are in the same place right now.