Report: Donovan Mitchell & Rudy Gobert's Relationship 'In a Better Place Now'

Is this the true state of the union between Utah's two star players?
Report: Donovan Mitchell & Rudy Gobert's Relationship 'In a Better Place Now'
Report: Donovan Mitchell & Rudy Gobert's Relationship 'In a Better Place Now' /

The Utah Jazz have been rumored of late to have a rift growing between star guard Donovan Mitchell and center Rudy Gobert. Both players addressed and dismissed the rumors after Utah's win over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 4 of the Western Conference's Round 1 playoffs. 

For his part, Gobert said, "F--- the talk," when asked about it post-game on Saturday, for which the NBA fined him $25,000 for using profane language on a television broadcast. Mitchell's remarks on the subject weren't explicit but perhaps equally dismissive. 

"I think it's funny, man," Mitchell said via Eric Walden of the Salt Lake City Tribune. "But it felt good, because you hear [the things that are said]. … We trust each other."

On Monday, ESPN's Brian Windhorst addressed Utah's state of the union between Mitchell and Gobert on his latest podcast on The Hoops Collective

"I have been told that Donovan and Rudy are in a better place now than they were earlier this year. And that there is a spirit of working together. I know everybody’s counting passes, and that’s not irrelevant. But I have heard going into the playoffs that there was an attempt being made to, ‘Let’s all focus on one goal’."

If we're counting passes, we'd be remiss to overlook Mitchell's alley-oop assist to Gobert, who slammed home the game-winning dunk in Game 4. With the series vs. the Mavs tied 2-2, the Jazz have bigger fish to fry than worrying about the scuttlebutt surrounding Mitchell and Gobert's interpersonal dynamics. 

The Jazz clawed back into this series, and the focus now zeroes in on Game 5 in Dallas. The game tips on Monday night at 7:30 pm MDT at the American Airlines Center. The game will be broadcast live on TNT. 


Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen.


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Chad Jensen
CHAD JENSEN

Chad Jensen is the Publisher of The Frozen Rope — SI.com's team website covering the Utah Jazz. Jensen also covers the NFL as the Publisher of the No. 1 team site on the SI.com network — Mile High Huddle — as well as Horseshoe Huddle.