The Utah Jazz has often felt slighted by the NBA, the referees, the media, and basically anyone outside their state who has an opinion on the game of basketball. This year, the Jazz have the best record in the league at 27-9, and they still feel they’re not getting the respect they deserve. Whether it’s an opposing player like Gary Trent Jr. running his yap.
Donovan Mitchell: “I don’t see why a guy like Gary Trent should come in and think he can just punk us. … We’re not a team that you can come in and just talk trash to. We’re not just gonna back down. … That’s what we kinda lacked the past few games — just toughness.” pic.twitter.com/Repl9u006a
— Eric Walden (@tribjazz) February 8, 2020
Or the zebras making an egregious call that even an official at a U-15 tournament wouldn’t make.
So this was called an offensive foul on Donovan Mitchell and I give up, folks pic.twitter.com/byF2aT1kYc
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) March 4, 2021
Now apparently, the latest sign of disrespect towards the Jazz occurred when all-star representatives Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert were the last two names selected in the player-led NBA All-Star Game draft that took place last night on TNT.
However, LeBron James, a team captain for one of the teams, seemed to put things in perspective when he said, “You guys got to understand. Just like in video games growing up, we never played with Utah. Even as great as Karl Malone and John Stockton were, we never picked those guys in video games. Never.”
James, who has always been thoughtful and engaging, found a unique way to say what probably many fans in the NBA (outside Utah) were thinking.
His comment is playful, but it also serves to bridge a gap between NBA fans who lived through the Malone-Stockton era and today’s generation that may only be familiar with them as one of the classic teams in the NBA 2K video game series.
This shows that even in controversy James is still the league’s ultimate ambassador as he does his part to bring together NBA fans of all generations.
