Donovan Mitchell Makes Honest Admission About Old Rift With Rudy Gobert

The Cavaliers guard candidly discussed his fallout with his ex-Jazz teammate.

Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell during the Jazz's 132–127 overtime win over the Rockets on March 2, 2022. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Just four short years ago, nobody in the NBA wanted to play the Utah Jazz.

The 52-20 squad gamely took all comers en route to the best record in the NBA that year. They manhandled the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs. In the Western Conference semifinals, however, they lost to the Los Angeles Clippers—and that was that.

The two stars of that team—center Rudy Gobert and guard Donovan Mitchell—play for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Cleveland Cavaliers now, respectively. In an interview with Tony Jones of The Athletic published Tuesday, Mitchell briefly addressed their split.

"I think we both would say that we weren't our most mature selves," Mitchell told Jones, who covered the Jazz of that era. "But, it's tough, because you're never the most mature you are going to be when you are 21 or 22. The funny thing is that we were our best after the (COVID-19) thing."

The "COVID thing" Mitchell is referring to is presumably the events of March 2020, when Gobert became the first NBA player to test positive for the virus. His casual disregard for the looming pandemic drew widespread public comment, and was reported at the time to have caused a rift with Mitchell.

Utah traded Gobert in July 2022 and Mitchell three months later.

"I would do it all again if I could," Mitchell said. "I'm appreciative of that, because it allowed me to become this player and person."

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