Donovan Mitchell is the star of the Utah Jazz, the main man leading the current roster to be one of the better teams in the Western Conference. While they have slowed down a little this season, the Jazz has become a formidable team in the regular season at the very least, even if they don’t have too much playoff success to show for it.
One of the key contributors in this era for them has been Joe Ingles, who has been a reliable scorer and tenacious defender, both as a starter and off the bench. Ingles received a major setback earlier this week, suffering an ACL injury to his left knee that will see him miss the rest of the season and likely see him miss parts of next season as well.
Ingles is a well-liked character, especially in Utah, and there has been an outpouring of support since the news of his serious injuries broke. David Locke on Twitter suggested that everyone turn the news of Joe’s injury into an appreciation thread for the player and one of the best responses was from Donovan Mitchell himself, who shared a funny story of his first encounter with Ingles in training camp as a rookie.
The moment I came into training camp my rookie year thinking he was just an old dude and he kicked my ass and I was thinking how the hell this old ass dude is killin me like this😂
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) January 31, 2022
“The moment I came into training camp my rookie year thinking he was just an old dude and he kicked my a** and I was thinking how the hell this old a** dude is killin me like this?”
Mitchell came into the league in 2017, when Ingles was already approaching 30, but the Australian has always been a solid player and he wasted no time introducing the young Donovan to that fact. Ingles’ game had aged well before this, he was runner up for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award last season. However, it remains to be seen if he will be able to make a comeback and even if he does if it will end up being for the Utah Jazz.
