When Donovan Mitchell sat down in front of the media immediately following Utah’s season-ending loss to Dallas in the opening round of the NBA playoffs, he made it very apparent that many of Utah’s struggles were on him.
As the leader and a borderline all-NBA player, it was widely expected that Mitchell would take the blame — that’s what true stars do. But digging into what Mitchell said — and more importantly, how he said it — it’s even more apparent that he is a player who cares and someone who means what he says.
“As a team, we didn’t rise to the occasion.