Report: Jazz Star Donovan Mitchell Sees Specialist for Ongoing Concussion Symptoms
Utah Jazz star guard Donovan Mitchell reportedly saw a specialist about his ongoing concussion symptoms that have kept him off the court for the past two weeks, per Tony Jones of The Athletic.
Mitchell has been in the concussion protocol after suffering it in a Jan. 17 game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Neither Mitchell or Rudy Gobert (calf strain) practiced on Tuesday. Gobert last played on Jan. 23.
January in general was a brutal month for the Jazz. The team went 4-12, has lost five in a row, is dealing with injuries to Mitchell and Gobert and will be without Joe Ingles for the rest of the season after he tore his ACL this week.
Head coach Quin Snyder and Danuel House Jr. are also in the league's health and safety protocols.
"It's like we can’t catch a break," Rudy Gay told reporters after Sunday's 126-106 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. "We've had a lot of things going on. We're just trying to survive."
Suddenly, the Jazz (30-21) went from competing for the top seed in the Western Conference to dropping to fourth, a whopping 11 games behind the Phoenix Suns (40-9).
"I told the guys, we can feel sorry for ourselves and there are plenty of excuses that we can point to," acting head coach Alex Jensen told reporters. "But we can also use this to come together and to get better."
Being without Mitchell is tough for the Jazz to overcome, however.
The 25-year-old is yet again putting up elite numbers, averaging 25.5 points and 5.2 assists per game while shooting 45.0 percent from the field and 33.9 percent from three. The Jazz outscore opponents by 7.9 points per 100 possessions with Mitchell on the court, per NBA.com, but that number drops to 3.0 points per 100 possessions when he sits.
The Jazz are a different team without both Mitchell and Gobert. They have an excellent net rating of 14.6 when the pair are on the court together. Neither player is replaceable in Utah.
And until they are both healthy, the Jazz's slide will likely continue.
