“It’s just a game,” says Donovan Mitchell, as he compares Jazz’s loss to Nuggets in playoffs to the loss of countless lives due to racism in America.
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In a gut wrenching loss to the Denver Nuggets, the Utah Jazz got sent home in Game 7 of the first round series behind Nikola Jokic’s 30 points.
This series has been a duel between star guards, Donovan Mitchell and Jamal Murray, with the latter’s team coming out on top. Both Mitchell and Murray dropped 2, 50+ point games each in this series, making it the first time that has ever happened.
Also read: Jamal Murray vs Donovan Mitchell Playoff Stats: Who will have upper hand in Jazz vs Nuggets Game 7
Donovan Mitchell talks about police brutality in postgame press conference
This series has been a hard fought battle since Game 1, where Mitchell dropped 57 points. So it makes sense that when Mike Conley missed the go-ahead 3 to win the game, the Jazz All-Star collapsed to the ground in defeat.
Spida left it all on the floor. pic.twitter.com/dtlOTcdCE4
— ESPN (@espn) September 2, 2020
Even with such a heart breaking loss, Mitchell did not waste a second in his post game interview to talk about the unjust killings of innocent black men and women in the US.
The Jazz star has been pretty vocal about his stance against police brutality and racism, and feels this loss is nothing compared to that of the families of black people who have lost their lives to racism.
Mitchell said quote, “This is a game. People lost their family members to police brutality and racism and s—. I can only imagine. The way that I’m feeling right now is nothing compared to that.”
“This is a game. People lost their family members to police brutality and racism and s—. I can only imagine. The way that I’m feeling right now is nothing compared to that.”
—Donovan Mitchell after losing Game 7 pic.twitter.com/7FknsLtStX
— ESPN (@espn) September 2, 2020
The NBA players have been very vocal about their disdain towards police brutality, even boycotting NBA games last week to bring awareness.
Social media is being flooded with positive comments towards Mitchell for bringing light to such problems even after suffering one of the biggest losses of his career.
Mitchell has a bright future ahead of him and from his comments post the loss, it seems that the young NBA star could have a massive role to play off-court as well.
