Donovan Mitchell on reports of tension with Rudy Gobert: That’s just not true

The last couple of days has been full of petty sniping back and forth in press conferences: first, Gobert noted how the Jazz didn’t have the winning habits of the teams above them in the Western Conference, the Warriors and the Suns. Then, he noted how impressed he was with Devin Booker’s defense with the Suns over the last couple of years. If you don’t think that’s a shot at Mitchell’s defense, well, I have a bridge to sell you, you poor gullible sweetheart. But Mitchell (and Clarkson), who liked Gobert’s tweet, didn’t exactly come off any better. When they were asked about Gobert’s comments, they gave fairly passive-aggressive comments themselves. And honestly, the quotes from those two, while not benign in verbiage, undersold the annoyance that was apparent in their voices. Oh, and of course, there’s the fact that Gobert, at heart, was basically right about their defense — one way to get Gobert to stop being honest about the team’s bad defense is to just play better defense. -via Salt Lake Tribune / January 17, 2022

Eric Walden: Donovan noted that having 3 days off from games, and having the time to be able to sit down and watch film together, plus get in a few practices helped iron out a lot of the communication issues. -via Twitter @tribjazz / January 17, 2022

“That’s the team that we know we can be,” Gobert said. “It’s exciting to see that we have another gear that we can tap into. But this is what we are going to have to bring every single night. “It was important for us to come out tonight and play the right way. It’s a long season, and we know that everything is not always going to be perfect. We know that we are going to have some tough stretches. But if we can keep getting better, we feel like we are going to be in great shape come playoff time. It’s exciting to see what we are capable of doing. So we need to keep building great habits.” -via The Athletic / January 17, 2022