The Utah Jazz landed a big steal in Donovan Mitchell. He outplayed most of his draft class colleagues and blossomed as an explosive scorer right out of the gate. It almost seemed too good to be true.
No disrespect to the Jazz whatsoever, but players like Mitchell don't usually stay for too long. They're driven away by bigger, fancier, swankier markets, especially if they come from a big city.
That's why most analysts have often speculated that Mitchell would eventually force his way out of Utah. However, according to a report by Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune, his potential desire to leave could be driven by other reasons.
NBA News: Racism And Socio-Political Environment Could Drive Donovan Mitchell Away From Utah
"Well, let's start with this: the overwhelming feeling among league insiders is that Mitchell is likely to sign outside of Utah at the first available opportunity in 2025," Larsen wrote. "Mitchell considers New York home. Mitchell has spent the majority of this offseason in New York this year. His skills trainer, Chris Brickley, operates out of a gym in the city. It makes sense that he'd be interested in living there full time."
"There are sociopolitical issues in Utah, too," the report added."Donovan Mitchell has been outspoken about incidents of racism of Utah, especially when directed at kids. He spoke out against Utah's critical race theory resolution, which earned him derision from Utah Senate president Stuart Adams."
Mitchell has been an advocate for minorities since entering the league and has made sure to use his platform to raise awareness on several issues. He even called out racist Jazz fans over incidents with Russell Westbrook and Ja Morant's father.
Needless to say, deeming all Jazz fans as racist would be inaccurate, unfair, and offensive. But then again, they have a long withstanding history of this sort of thing, so it wouldn't be far-fetched to think that Mitchell has had enough of it already.
