Former NBA Player Predicts Big Troubles for Utah Jazz in Orlando Bubble With Their Franchise Players

Ahead of the 2019-20 NBA season’s resumption, every team would want to make the most of their scrimmage schedules. Each team gets three scrimmage games as part of their schedule before they get out and compete for the championship. The Utah Jazz played the Phoenix Suns in their first scrimmage game and endured a disappointing loss.

There are many takeaways from the loss, as coach Quin Snyder was experimenting with his roster a little bit. However, certain fans feel that there might be an unfixable problem within the team. It is the general feeling that the relationship of the Jazz’s two best players has deteriorated after what transpired in March and April. 

Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell did not enjoy a happy quarantine period as the former’s positive COVID test caused the league to shut down all its activities starting March 11. There was so much reported about the breaking link between these two, as Mitchell found himself having the virus shortly after Gobert’s positive test. 

Do the Utah Jazz have a serious crisis in their hands?

Gobert and Mitchell are the two most important players on the team. Moreover, the Jazz won’t be having the services of Bojan Bogdanovic, as he is recovering from a wrist injury. The news from the past has caused everyone to question if there is a rift in the Utah Jazz team. 

To give his take on the issue, former NBA player Kendrick Perkins recently joined ESPN’s First Take. “To me where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” Perkins began. “And that’s a problem for the Utah Jazz, because when you have two of your franchise guys that are not on the same page, that’s the problem.”

Perkins feels that the problem within these two would blow up and affect the team as a whole. “They have separation within the team. So then they form these cliques. You may have Rudy Gobert. He’d have a certain amount of guys that would roll with him outside of the court. Then you have Donovan Mitchell that’ll have certain guys that would roll with him to dinner or etc or hang out with him,” Perkins added. 

The 2008 NBA champion then explained how it will affect them largely when they try to play together as a unit on the court. It wouldn’t work out and there will certainly be no chemistry between Gobert and Mitchell if things don’t get fixed soon. 

“If they don’t get it together, the Jazz are gonna be forced to choose between the two,” Perkins said. While there is a certain possibility of the team suffering as a result of Gobert and Mitchell’s dispute, we feel it might already be settled within the team. The Utah Jazz has a talented lineup and they will look to put their differences behind and focus on the season. 

Source: YouTube