Report: Jazz Mitchell Not Happy With Game One Scratch
May 24, 2021, 10:39 AM | Updated: 10:59 am
Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz reacts to a play in a NBA game against the Memphis Grizzlies at Vivint Smart Home Arena on October 22, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images)
(Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell is not happy with the team after he was a late scratch from Game 1, according to ESPN.
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Tim MacMahon and Brian Windhorst of ESPN have reported that the All-Star guard isn’t happy about the Jazz training staff’s decision to hold him out of the team’s game one loss to the Memphis Grizzlies Sunday night.
Mitchell is recovering from an ankle injury that forced him to miss the final 16 games of the regular season, but was set to return to action against the Grizzlies to open the series.
Donovan Mitchell was furious at Jazz decision to hold him out of Sunday's playoff game, deepening frustrations about his recovery from sprained ankle, sources tell @espn_macmahon & me: https://t.co/2LE9fFzJmW
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) May 24, 2021
On Thursday, Mitchell returned to practice, and by Saturday, the guard wasn’t mentioned in the team’s injury report ahead of game one.
Throughout the night, Mitchell sent a series of cryptic social media posts after the news broke. First, the guard posted the album cover for the Jay-Z song “Politics as Usual.”
Then, after the loss, Mitchell sent this tweet.
“Sorry y’all… I wish I could say more… I’ll be out there soon!”
Sorry y’all… I wish I could say more…. I’ll be out there soon !❤️🙏🏾
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) May 24, 2021
Mitchell has been out since April 16 when he suffered an ankle injury against the Indiana Pacers. According to ESPN, Mitchell was progressing slowly in the early stages of his recovery before deciding to work with his own personal training staff on the rehabilitation process.
When speaking the to media, Mitchell indicated his rehab had taken a turn in the right direction in recent weeks.
“I feel like I’ve been progressing well for like the past two weeks,” Mitchell said.
“You’re going to quote me on that but I could be wrong. But I feel like that’s when things started to go in the right way.”
The Jazz and Mitchell are hopeful that he can play at some point in the series. He will be reevaluated day-to-day.
Game 2 against the Grizzlies will be on Wednesday, May 26 at 8 p.m. MDT on TNT and AT&T SportsNet.
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