Donovan Mitchell Excited To Be Injury Free Entering Season
Oct 2, 2019, 10:22 AM | Updated: Oct 3, 2019, 8:42 am
Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz drives to the basket against the Houston Rockets in the first half of Game Four during the first round of the 2019 NBA Western Conference Playoffs at Vivint Smart Home Arena on April 22, 2019 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 guard Donovan Mitchell will experience something heading into his third NBA season that he wasn’t able to last year – health.
The rising Jazz star is happy to be healthy and heading into training camp without any limitations, which should help him get off to a good start in the 2019-20 season.
Last off-season, Mitchell was forced to wear a walking boot due to an injury he suffered in the playoffs against the Houston Rockets. It limited what he could do in off-season workouts as he attempted to build on his almost Rookie of The Year Season.
"I am excited to be healthy at the beginning of the year and just play basketball." Donovan Mitchell
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) September 30, 2019
“Honestly, I can go to the gym when I want to shoot,” Mitchell said at Jazz Media Day. “One of the things you really miss when you get hurt and I think just being able to say ‘I am going to do two-a-days today or sometimes three. Being able to have that mindset coming in, obviously, I started a little bit earlier because of FIBA coming up.”
Fatigue might set in after playing basketball all over the world with Team USA as they participated in the FIBA World Cup of basketball in China, while also playing exhibition games in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Australia.
Fatigue is nothing compared to recovering from an injury.
OMG CAN I COME OVER BRO?!?! https://t.co/WivWw3xJ4O
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) September 28, 2019
“I am excited to just play basketball,” Mitchell stated. “That’s the biggest thing, I can just feel it, I am excited to be healthy at the beginning of the year. I remember how it was tough last year, especially for me not just during the season but getting to a point where you feel healthy, so I cherish that because I wasn’t there and that’s the difference between last year and this year.”
Despite starting last season off of an injury, Mitchell managed to raise his points per game average from 20.5 points as a rookie to 23.8 points per game last season.
The Jazz will begin the preseason portion of their schedule on Saturday at Vivint Smart Home Arena against the Adelaide 36ers at 7 p.m. on AT&T SportsNet.
