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Thank You Spida Mitchell!!!

The Jazz Wonderbra

Well-Known Member
I am saddened that no one has posted a best wishes to Donovan Mitchell. So, without further adieu...

Best of Luck Donovan. You will be missed.

TheJazzWonderbra's Favorite spida Memory:

I have attended most summer league games since I was 13. I have been Jazzed about prospects from Raul Lopez, DeShawn Stevenson, Morris Almond, and D Williams, to Byron Russell, Shandon Anderson, and Dante Exum, and Chris Miles. But I will never forget sitting on the front row of the 2017 rocky mountain review summer league at the University of Utah basketball arena. It was an incredible showdown between Jayson Tatum, Boston's lanky sweet shooting 3rd overall pick, and Donovan Mitchell, the lottery pick we traded up to get. Gordon Hackwad pulled a 4th of July bomb on us and we fans needed something to lift us. Donovan was a lanky, defensive minded, athletic player who looked promising on paper. But he captured my fandom in a heart beat with his infectious smile and incredible play as soon as he stepped on the court. I have never seen any summer league player do what he was doing. He took on the challenge of guarding Tatum for the final minutes of the game. He was locked in, slapping the court, clapping, and smiling from cheek to cheek competing against a clearly tremendous athlete and player. But in the final minutes of the game he took over on both ends of the court. The heroics included a defensive stop on Tatum, a 360 spin move followed by an emphatic dunk in the lane, and a jazz win against Danny Ainge and the Celtics who couldn't even give us a TPE for Gordon. It was cathartic... the jazz hit gold and who needed Gordon Haywart? We were in for a magical ride.

I hoped you would retire in Utah with several championship rings but it was not to be. Not sure where things went wrong exactly but clearly it was time for a change for everyone. Spending all summer in the New York limelight didn't make me feel the love. But you made watching the Jazz a delight for 6 years.

Best of luck in Cleveland and beyond. You are an incredibly fun player to watch! I will always be a fan. Thanks for the memories!

Love him, despise him, or somewhere in between... lets show our class by POSTING OUR FAVORITE SPIDA MITCHELL MEMORIES BELOW.
 
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I loved whatever season it was when DM, Gobert, Ingles and new addition Clarkson were going out to the post game press conference after playoff wins and having a really good time.

I felt like the Jazz had a team that really connected and really wanted to support each other so that the team could win.

I have no idea where it all went wrong, but it did.

I wish a few balls bounced a different way for the Jazz in the playoffs over the last several years because I think that was a legit chance to get a championship in Utah with players that at the time I really liked.
 
If we only sign Bogie and not Conley, is different?

First 3-4 seasons with Don was great. Last 2 year is not much enjoyable
 
The 2017-18 season was one of my favorite Jazz seasons ever, and Donovan was a big part of that. Hayward had just bolted for Boston and things looked really bleak for the Jazz. It quickly became clear that Rodney Hood was not a number one option on a good team, then Rudy went down with an injury and ended up missing around 26 or 27 games. At one point the Jazz were 9 games under .500 and towards the bottom of the western conference standings. The one bright spot through those early struggles was the emergence of rookie Donovan, it didn't take long before he replaced Hood in the starting lineup and became the focal point of the offense. It became abundantly clear that we had the steal of the draft.

Then Rudy came back from injury, we traded Hood for Crowder and the chemistry really began to grow... that group of Rubio/Don/Ingles/Favors/Rudy/Crowder/AB/Neto/Royce was one of the most fun and entertaining teams I've ever seen. We went on a huge run the second half of the season and at one point won 19 of 21 games IIRC, including an 11-game win streak. We climbed from the bottom of the western conference all the way up to the 5th seed. Then we went on to defeat OKC in one of the most fun playoff matchups in franchise history. Don shined in that series, outplaying both Russell Westbrook and Paul George.

Most of my favorite memories of Donovan come from that 17-18 rookie season- the joy and charisma he played with, the highlight dunks, the dunk contest victory, the 41-point performance against the Pelicans, the rookie of the year race with Simmons (which he should've won), the OKC series, and the humility he displayed in interviews.
 
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Thank you Donovan and all the best! Pity it ended on the sour note but I am still going to remember 2017/18 season, series against OKC, spectacular dunks, unreal scoring in the bubble against the Nuggets.
 
I was wondering when this would get started as well. I'm grateful for Donovan and hope he is happy in Cleveland.

I think the early Clippers series before he aggravated his ankle injury is my highlight. He clearly wasn't 100%, but was willing us to wins. The Memphis series was also fun when he was just toying with Brooks.

I'll also remember Donovan for some of the insanely athletic stuff he did, especially early on. The plays where he would jump for a put back dunk and seem to take a second leap in the air.

I appreciate the awareness he brought to the community on race issues, and for being vocal about things that matter. I appreciate the way he treats his mom and sister and for the example he is to young kids.
 
Enjoyed the first couple years he was with Jazz then got indifferent with the seemingly lack of fight and heart in the team. Ainge brought me back to having interest again. Good luck in CLE, Donovan.
 
Met him a few times and he couldn’t be nicer. Generous with his time with the kids. Amazing player to watch. Sad and disappointed at how it all worked out. Wonder if any team ends up retiring his jersey. Couple years in Cleveland then he goes to Miami or NY… think he may end up having a career similar to D Will where he looks back and was “damn… I had it good there”.
 
His rookie season ended up being the most fun year we had. It was incredible how he rejuvenated the team after an awful free agency.

Definitely disappointing that it never exceeded that initial season. But there were a lot of factors at play. I wish him well.
 
Loved him the rookie year so much. The ability and the joyful glee. He seemed to have it all.

For those wondering when it all began to sour, look no further than when after being tied with the Rockets 1-1, he was featured by Kobe Bryant on "Detail". Donovan was never the same. The Jazz lost the next 3 games to Houston and Donovan lost that youthful bounce of innocence forevermore. Some call it the Kobe curse but perhaps the honor just went to his head.

Oh well Donovan, thanks for the memories and thanks for the haul of assets from Cleveland. I hope the best for you and your career.
 
His first couple of years were awesome, and brought back hope to the organization. The last couple were difficult to watch as he struggled to close games and all but refused to play defense. I hope he learns to overcome quarrels with teammates and learns to become a facilitator as well as a top notch scorer. Plus getting back to giving a modicum of effort on defense, bringing balance back into his game.
 
Donovan’s rookie year was definitely one of the most fun Jazz seasons ever. It was wonderfully unexpected with the Hayward departure. He, Rubio, and Ingles really brought a sense of camaraderie we just hadn’t seen from this team. I remember how much fun they had pouring water on one another during their post game interviews. The joy in that was tremendous to watch and experience. Donovan’s seeming embrace of the city and the franchise breathed new life and opened the door for hope. We had one of the most exciting young players in the league.

The excitement he brought those first few years definitely made the last few years even that much harder. In retrospect he probably wasn’t ever going to be the player I allowed myself to hope he could be, but the hope was fun while it lasted.

Best of luck Donovan. I’ll still cheer for you on the Cavs, at least until 2025.
 
There definitely were some exceptional memories with him on the team. In a way he gave new life to this franchise after the way Hayward ditched us and I would always look back fondly on his rookie year. His playoff performances were remarkable as well. Somewhere along the way something changed and things just didn't work out for this team. Too bad.

Wish him good luck, especially early in his stay in Cleveland. :p
 
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