Donovan Mitchell Discusses Workout Routine, Shows Off Carlos Boozer Jersey
Apr 1, 2020, 9:41 PM | Updated: 9:41 pm
Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz reacts late in the game while playing the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena on January 05, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. Utah won the game 110-105. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – As the Utah Jazz continued their recent trend of re-airing modern classic games from the last few seasons, guard Donovan Mitchell joined the Jazz Playback broadcast to update fans on his well-being, and how he’s spent his time in quarantine.
Mitchell was joined by Craig Bolerjack and Matt Harpring of the Jazz television broadcast team to discuss what he’s been doing over the last three weeks that the NBA season has been postponed.
The Jazz guard and teammate Rudy Gobert were the first two NBA players to test positive for COVID-19 which lead to the league closing its doors until the pandemic could be contained. Last Friday, both Mitchell and Gobert were cleared of the virus by the Utah Health Department.
. @rudygobert27 and @spidadmitchell, along with the rest of the @utahjazz team and staff have been cleared by @UtahDepOfHealth. They no longer pose a risk but will continue #socialdistancing https://t.co/QAyBsUXvjj
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 27, 2020
On the Playback broadcast, Mitchell indicated that while he had tested positive for the new coronavirus, he remained asymptomatic.
“I feel the exact same way I felt when I was in OKC which is a blessing,” Mitchell said.
Like most Americans, Mitchell is faced with the strange reality of living in quarantine, or partial isolation as the country pushes to slow the spread of the virus.
“I’ve literally been down here in my basement playing Xbox, ps4 for hours upon hours of the day if I’m not working out,” Mitchell said, “The first week was tough, I could be around my family but only for a short period of time because I was in isolation. Now we’re able to rewatch movies, last night I was cooking, I was on Instagram live cooking I learned how to make duck for the first time in my life.”
Though Michell has been able to work out, his training regimen is a far cry from what he would regularly be doing with the team had the season not been postponed.
” Thankfully I am back home so I have my stuff downstairs,” the Jazz guard said, “I have weights, I have a bike, I have a treadmill, I have a hoop outside, I am able to go for a little bit of a jog.”
While Mitchell hasn’t been able to fully work on his game, he’s grateful for what his home setup has allowed him to accomplish compared to some of his less fortunate teammates.
“There are guys who are here for one year, who have maybe just signed for a team for the first year like Emmanuel [Mudiay] or Jordan [Clarkson] who are in apartments because this isn’t where they’ve been for the past few years,” Mitchell said.
Despite a vast array of living situations among the league’s roughly 450 players, the NBA is using its full power to keep its athletes in game shape.
“It’s been tough,” Mitchell said, “But the NBA, and teams, and the NBAPA, and trainers have done a great job about sending us schedules and sending us things that we can do and tailoring it for the individual.”
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Though just because the players have been able to maintain their physical fitness while away from the game, Mitchell warned that a return to live game action would require more than simply returning to his team.
“If we do get back to playing we’re going to need a lot of time to build our way back into it. It’s not just he getting in shape stuff but finding that rhythm. We were really at our peak or getting towards that peak time as far as rhythm goes and now that’s got to restart.”
Mitchell Wearing Carlos Boozer Jersey?
As Mitchell mentioned, much of his time has been spent playing video games, leading to the creation of his own Twitch.tv channel, an app that allows users to stream themselves playing video games.
In Mitchell’s latest stream of NBA 2K, the Jazz guard wore a familiar throwback jersey.
The most interesting thing about Donovan Mitchell’s current twitch stream is the Jersey he chose to wear. #CBoooooooze pic.twitter.com/ZDOqQ8V3xC
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) April 2, 2020
Mitchell’s number five jersey was the same number and era of former Jazz All-Star forward Carlos Boozer.
It’s not the first time Mitchell has been seen ‘wearing’ a throwback jersey from a forme Jazz legend. At the 2018 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Mitchell took-in game action donning a Karl Malone mountain jersey.
Way to represent young fella! Send me one of yours..haven’t worn a jersey in a while but I’ll rep yours 🕷@spidadmitchell pic.twitter.com/BoRPxJ9bjA
— Karl Malone (@TheDeliverer_32) July 7, 2018
Mitchell will be featured in an upcoming NBA 2k tournament beginning Friday featuring 15 other NBA players. Mitchell’s first-round matchup will come against Washington Wizards rookie Rui Hachirmura. The tournament winner will earn $100,000 towards a charity of their choosing and will be broadcast live on ESPN and ESPN2.
Who would watch @spidadmitchell in the @NBA2K Tournament?#TakeNote https://t.co/qwzxKl5hSC
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 31, 2020
