Woj: Jazz's Donovan Mitchell Won't Play for Team USA at Tokyo Olympics Due to Injury
June 21, 2021
Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell reportedly will be skipping this summer's Olympic Games in Tokyo.
According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Mitchell is declining his invitation to join Team USA and "will use the time to recover and rehab from his right ankle injury."
Stephen Curry also reportedly is opting out of the Summer Games, per Shams Charania and Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Curry and Mitchell join LeBron James and Anthony Davis as high-profile stars skipping the event.
Don't feel too bad for Team USA, though. As Marc Stein of the New York Times noted, Damian Lillard, Draymond Green, Bradley Beal, Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Bam Adebayo and James Harden have reportedly committed to the team.
Those eight players alone make the Americans the heavy favorites in Japan, with four roster spots left to fill.
A healthy Mitchell would have been exciting to watch at the Summer Games. The 24-year-old averaged career highs in points (26.4 PPG), assists (5.2 APG) and three-point percentage (38.6 percent) this season, shooting 43.8 percent from the field while adding 4.4 rebounds and a steal per contest.
He helped lead the Jazz to a 52-20 record, the best mark in the NBA, though injuries to him and Mike Conley hurt Utah in the Western Conference Semifinals, where the Los Angeles Clippers eliminated them in six games.
There will be future Olympics appearances for Mitchell. He's emerged as one of the NBA's most dangerous perimeter shot-makers.