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SALT LAKE CITY — As Michael Jordan made his surprise appearance at halftime of the All-Star Game, Donovan Mitchell was stuck in a Cleveland hotel room.
That moment stung a bit for the Utah Jazz star.
He was in Ohio and had expected to participate in the annual pageantry of the weekend, but an illness wouldn't relent. The league didn't think it was the best idea for Mitchell, who had a non-COVID, upper-respiratory illness, to go and get the rest of the top players sick, so he was confined to his room to watch it all on TV.
"I didn't think it was smart to just come in (and play)," Mitchell said. "Now, looking back at it, if you can find a way to get Steph (Curry) sick and Book (Devin Booker) sick…"
Jokes aside, Mitchell understood why he couldn't attend. But when he saw Jordan walk out on the court at halftime as part of the 75th anniversary team, his heart sunk. Jordan, the man who was responsible for Mitchell wearing the No. 45 jersey number and the man whose old VHS highlights were a must-watch for a young Mitchell, was one of the legends of the game Mitchell has yet to meet.
"A lot of moments of All-Star Week, I was upset that I missed just because of the 75th anniversary, the great — just being able to be around excellence, I think is huge," Mitchell said. "You play this game, you grew up watching Mike — like I bring up Mike because I've never actually physically met Michael Jordan, so that would have been a moment where I could have."
In a different timeline, that meeting would have happened a few years ago.
Mitchell revealed that he believed he was heading to Charlotte, the team Jordan owns, on draft night back in 2017. On the morning of the draft, he was told he was gonna be a Hornet — who had the No. 11th pick, two spots ahead of where Mitchell eventually was drafted and traded to the Jazz.
"I thought I was gonna be with Mike," Mitchell said.
So what happened? Mitchell had planned a second workout with the Hornets ahead of the draft that Jordan was going to attend. That workout, though, never happened.
"Things didn't align and stars didn't align," Mitchell said.
At least not for the Hornets, who ended up taking Malik Monk with the pick. The stars aligned pretty perfectly for the Jazz, who got their franchise guard.
Mitchell said he watched the All-Star Game with the regular TNT broadcast, so he didn't hear Golden State Draymond Green say on the alternative broadcast on TBS that he and Rudy Gobert are "nothing alike" and insinuate that the Jazz center is largely overrated.
At least, Mitchell didn't hear it live. He's heard it since.
His thoughts?
"I don't think nothing of it," Mitchell said. "If you ask Rudy the same thing, I'm pretty sure he'll say the same thing. He (Green) has his opinions, everybody's gonna have their own opinion; doesn't really matter. We got to go out there and win, we gotta go out there and compete."
The competition begins again on Friday against Dallas. The All-Star break provided a chance for the players to rest and reset (and, as Mitchell jokingly pointed out, to get some tans); now, the stretch run of the season begins.
"The regular season is about continuing to find an identity and kind of sculpt what you want," coach Quin Snyder said.
The Jazz return from the break a team that feels it has found itself — the last game's loss to the Lakers, notwithstanding. They went through a prolonged rough stretch due to injuries and COVID-19 cases. And they've had consistent questions about the state of the locker room, especially in regards to the relationship between Gobert and Mitchell.
Mitchell has gone on record numerous times over the last few weeks to try and diffuse the whispers of a discord, and Gobert proclaimed during All-Star Weekend that, "We keep trying to push each other, and we're supporting each other. The team's success is gonna start with us."
To them, all that is behind them — and now they have six weeks to be prepared for a playoff run that they hope goes much deeper than previous years.
"Six weeks goes by like that," Mitchell said. "It's not gonna be easy. It's not gonna be just handed to us on a silver platter. We got to go out there and take it and get ready. And I think guys are locked in and ready to do it."
