Players in the NBA today don’t usually have the type of animosity we used to see from players in the past. As the NBA has grown into one of the most popular leagues in the entire world, the NBA has seen a greater sense of unity and fraternity amongst its players. But from time to time, players do air their grievances against each other, but not in the most direct way.
During the game against the Dallas Mavericks and the Utah Jazz, Rudy Gobert appeared to intentionally trip Luka Doncic after a play had been completed. Doncic was clearly not happy, as he was seen moments later yelling at the referees to take a look at the footage and call a foul on Gobert.
But Donovan Mitchell feels Doncic himself got away with a bit of rough play of his own. Mitchell liked a Tweet from a Jazz fan account showing the video of Doncic inadvertently punching Mitchell in the face while guarding him. The caption questioned why Doncic didn’t get called for a foul when Gobert was punished for his transgression.
WoW 🤬
seeing this in slo-mo & this camera angle .. this play was WAY worse then the “Gobert foul on Luka”#JazzNation #UtahJazz #TakeNote#GoJazz #NBAhttps://t.co/FMGXPfIj7u pic.twitter.com/qtAQ4bqxaI
— JazzNation (@JazzNationNews) March 8, 2022
Mitchell seems to agree with the sentiment shared in the Tweet. Some could argue that the blow seemed inadvertent, as Doncic was trying to jockey for the ball. But there is some validity, as the strike did go unpunished by the referees despite Mitchell being visibly perturbed by it.
Perhaps this was nothing more than Mitchell believing in his teammates and trying to look out for them. Neither Mitchell nor the post he liked really had anything inflammatory to say about Doncic or the move that he made. Mitchell just wanted the game to be called fairly for both teams.
The Jazz and the Mavericks have one more game left in their season series. And with this added reaction, it could help bring an element of hostility to the game that could make for entertaining basketball. How both sides will react while playing against each other remains to be seen.
