LAS VEGAS — Tucked away from the blazing 111-degree heat outside in sunny Sin City were 17 NBA players competing inside the UNLV's air-conditioned Mendenhall Center on Monday afternoon.
Among those was Utah Jazz rising star Donovan Mitchell fighting for a spot on the USA Basketball men’s national team roster for the World Cup during Day One of training camp.
Mitchell’s late free throws would help Team White beat Team Blue, 30-27, in the final scrimmage of the day, while relishing the challenge of going back and forth with Boston Celtics All-Star guard Kemba Walker in the process.
I think it’ll be a great experience. This will be my first time playing for USA and I take pride in that but obviously we want to play to win. – Donovan Mitchell
“Donovan is so competitive, I’m so competitive and we just want to bring the best out of each other, that’s all it is,” said Walker, a fellow New York native. “That’s what we did today, especially for the first day, it’s good.
“I love Donovan’s game, man,” he continued. “From day one he stepped in this league and killed it. He’s continuing to kill it so I’m happy for him. He’s a hard worker.”
On Aug. 17, the final 12-member roster will be selected for 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup competition, but until then Mitchell has to earn his position, which the 22-year-old Adidas signature athlete has no problem doing.
As a second-year guard for the Jazz, he put up 23.8 points, 4.2 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals to help the Jazz reach the playoffs with a 50-32 regular season record, but his role will be much different in this setting.
“I think it’ll be a great experience. This will be my first time playing for USA and I take pride in that but obviously we want to play to win,” Mitchell said. “It’s also a learning experience, but to come out there and compete. Obviously, with everybody dropping out, I wasn’t too concerned with that, but I just want to go out there and compete and beat Joe (Ingles) and Rudy (Gobert) for sure.”
It wasn’t until mid-July during the summer of 2018 that Mitchell became medically cleared for any offseason activities. Following his breakout rookie season, he walked around in precautionary boot, which stemmed from a left foot injury during Game 5 of the Jazz’s second-round playoff series against Houston, then had to play catch-up entering training camp.
Deseret News sources also revealed that a metal plate was inserted inside his sneakers as a technique to stabilize his injured toe and prevent further injury until he grew fully comfortable performing on the foot, once the 2018-19 season started. He wouldn’t fully grow comfortable until the start of the new year, where he earned the NBA’s Western Conference Player of the Week award for the first time of his career on Jan. 14.
Things are much different this summer, though, with Mitchell returning to his home state of New York to work with famed trainer Chris Brickley.
Brickley’s Black-Ops pickup runs have attracted many of Mitchell’s peers such as Kyle Kuzma, Trae Young and Jaren Jackson Jr. — who are also in Las Vegas for both the national and select teams.
“A lot of it for me, I just miss the game of basketball,” Mitchell said. “It’s a lot of fun, but I wanted to take care of my body as well with being able to take days off which was tough for me in the beginning.
“Now, it’s time to figure it out and playing with guys like Kemba, Khris Middleton, Harrison Barnes, Thad Young … learning how to take care of your body and different vets that I don’t normally learn from during the season.”
Despite the previous injury, the Jazz front office has no concerns on Mitchell’s participation. They see it as not only a chance to compete internationally and represent his country, but also to test himself among the best in the world which is better in a structured setting as opposed to playing in a pro-am game or something not as serious. In fact, Jazz executive vice president of basketball operations Dennis Lindsey was on-site in Las Vegas to check out Mitchell on the opening day and show his support.
When Mitchell was first added to the initial 20 players chosen for Team USA’s training camp in early June, he seemed to be a long shot to make the squad with All-Stars such as James Harden, Damian Lillard and Bradley Beal also committed. But a plethora of guys would drop out at the last minute to focus on the 2019-20 NBA season, which opened up the doors for Mitchell as well as other younger guys. That was evident on Day One.
“Out of adversity, if you want to call it that, there’s always opportunity, so it’s the guy who takes it and takes advantage of that opportunity who will be able to shine,” Team USA director Jerry Colangelo said. “Donovan Mitchell had a great day today.”