Teammates React To Conley Re-Signing With Jazz
Aug 3, 2021, 1:01 PM | Updated: 1:04 pm
Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (45) and Utah Jazz guard Mike Conley (10) celebrate after a Conley 3-point shot as the Utah Jazz and the Sacramento Kings play an NBA basketball game at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020. Jazz won 123-101.
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SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – There was palpable excitement both on social media, and across the globe after the news broke that Mike Conley was re-signing with the Utah Jazz for three more seasons.
Conley was the Jazz’s first All-Star to become an unrestricted free agent since Gordon Hayward left the team for the Boston Celtics in 2017. Unlike Hayward however, Conley quickly re-upped with the Jazz on a three-year contract worth in the range of $70 million.
KSL Sports Jeremiah Jensen spoke to Rudy Gobert and Joe Ingles who advanced to the semifinal round on the Olympics shorty after Conley agreed to return to the Jazz.
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“I didn’t want Mike to leave, obviously,” Gobert said. “So I’m glad that they got it done. I’m just excited for next year. I’m trying to stay focused on the Olympics, but I had to text him and congratulate him.”
Ingles has Australia positioned to earn their first Olympic medal in the men’s basketball tournament but also took time to congratulate Conley from Tokyo for re-signing.
“I spoke to him a couple of times but obviously I’ve been pretty locked in with this so I’ve been a bit detached a little,” Ingles admitted. “But obviously really glad that he’s coming back, [he was a] big part of what we did last year.”
Conley posted a hilarious tribute to The Wolf Of Wall Street announcing his return, which caught the eye of fans across the NBA, and on his own roster.
Mike Conley channeled his inner Leonardo DiCaprio from The Wolf Of Wall Street in his announcement that he was returning to the @utahjazz. #takenote https://t.co/CAelCfVX2V
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) August 2, 2021
“Run it back champ!” Assistant coach Keyon Dooling wrote on Conley’s Instagram page. “Happy for you my brother.”
Donovan Mitchell, who made a cameo in Conley’s announcement video made a joke about freeing his backcourt teammate after re-signing with the Jazz.
“Just let @MCONLEY10 out the house,” Mitchell wrote, “thanks mike!”
The post was a response to an earlier tweet when Mitchell said he planned to lock Conley in his house when free agency opened until he agreed to re-sign with the Jazz.
That’s the plan🤷🏾♂️ https://t.co/F6VMGbSMSh
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) July 30, 2021
Conley can’t officially sign his contract until Friday when the league’s new 2021-22 season calendar begins.
