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SALT LAKE CITY — Dennis Lindsey knew the question was coming — and he knew the answer, too.
It was the same as it was on the morning of March 11, before the coronavirus had hit his team.
The Utah Jazz executive vice president of basketball operations likes his team with both parts of the All-Star duo of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. That was the case then, and it’s still the case now.
“We're very pleased with the collective makeup of our group — Donovan and Rudy, in particular — and we look forward to moving forward,” Lindsey said when asked in a video call with media Tuesday about their suddenly rocky relationship.
The problems between the pair came as a result of Gobert and Mitchell both testing positive for COVID-19 after Gobert famously made light of the then-looming coronavirus pandemic. Last month, Gobert said that while he and Mitchell didn’t speak for a time following the league shut down, the two had made peace with each other.
“We are both ready to go out and try to win a championship for this team,” Gobert said on an Instagram Live.
Lindsey admitted there was a divide between the two, but that the team was ready to move ahead.
“As for Donovan and Rudy, I think they both spoke to this; they're ready to put this behind them, move forward, act professionally,” Lindsey said. Look, the COVID-19 night was really unprecedented. It brought a microscope to our team. And we get it.”
The All-Star pair has also spoken with owners, the basketball operations staff and the coaches to clear the air, Lindsey said. They have both been participating fully in team Zoom training sessions.
“We fully expect the team to come together in a great way and continue to move forward as a group,” Lindsey said. “I think at the end of the day, Donovan and Rudy, I don't want to speak for them on every matter, they'll speak for themselves moving forward, but I think at the most basic level they know they need each other to accomplish the goals that we want to accomplish as being the last team standing in the NBA.”
And the first steps in the team coming together again might be happening soon.
The NBA has targeted May 8 as the day where teams — if local regulations allow — can open up their practice facilities for individual workouts. While it will likely be after May 8, the Jazz are preparing to do just that.
“We want to make sure the facility meets all of the league specifications, local state health officials protocols,” Lindsey said. “And then we're going to be even a little bit more stringent to those standards by creating our own standards. And the biggest goal is to have the confidence of the players and the staff that they can enter the facility safely. So, we're taking it very seriously.”
Leading up the NBA shutdown, the Jazz had frequent team meetings detailing how to best avoid the coronavirus — especially during a week-long trip back on the East Coast where the virus had just been confirmed. They are taking the same type of approach to reopening their facility.
“We do have a significant number here, locally, and we will follow all those protocols. But with that said, we look forward to having them in our building soon,” Lindsey said.
As for actually playing again, that’s still very much up in the air. Lindsey didn’t speculate on when (or even if) the season will resume, saying that it “will be based upon data, not dates.”
“As far as my opinion on whether the league should try to come back, it's overlaid simply by: Can we come back safely?” Lindsey said. “If health permits, then let's try to come back. I'm all for naming a champion, even if it's a truncated champion. Those teams that are in the midst of playoff chases and championship chases, we want to compete and name a champion.”
