SALT LAKE CITY — A picture can say a thousand words, and a video can say a little more. Put them on social media and it can really start a conversation.
If there was any doubt about whether Donovan Mitchell would be joining the Utah Jazz in Orlando, some pictures and videos posted to Instagram have seemed to clear that up.
Mitchell was shown working out in videos posted on Wednesday by the Instagram account @brkicks, the account dedicated to Bleacher Report’s sneaker obsessed fans. Later, Royce O’Neale, Jordan Clarkson, Rayjon Tucker and Miye Oni were spotted in videos posted by the @dreamers account.
The reason for the post by @brkicks was to highlight that Mitchell was working out at the California-based Sports Academy in his soon to be released D.O.N. Issue #2 signature Adidas shoes.
Later, both Mitchell and Clarkson posted photos to Instagram, specifically mentioning the Orlando restart. In Mitchell’s post, a photo of him and O’Neale, playing video games together while sitting across the room from one another, Mitchell captioned the scene by saying, “What we finna look like in Orlando,” followed by laughing crying emojis.
As part of the NBA’s safety guidelines, players will be able to take part in activities in Orlando such as playing video games, card games, and watching movies together so long as they are socially distanced when not practicing or in a game on the court.
Clarkson’s post to Instagram had an even more serious tone that pointed to what his main objective will be in Orlando.
“It will only be one reason we going to disney for...one goal, one reason,” Clarkson said, followed by an emoji of a trophy in the caption of a photo of him and Mitchell on the court together.
Mitchell was reportedly part of a conference call of roughly 80 players who shared concerns they had about restarting the season in Orlando. Mitchell was said to be concerned with possibility of injury after such a long layoff, especially considering that he will be max-extension eligible this offseason.
The National Basketball Players Association sent out a manual to every player and team that details what life will look like in Orlando and leading up to the restart of the season. According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the manual opened with a note assuring that anyone that feels uncomfortable would not be required to take part in the season restart.
“It is critical that every player understand that he has the right to choose not to return to play,” the manual reads. “Any player who exercises this right will not be disciplined. To respect the decision of those who do return to play, it has been agreed that any player who chooses not to participate will have his compensation reduced by 1/92.6 for each game missed up to a cap of 14 games, even if his team plays more than 14 games in Orlando.”
Although Mitchell had voiced concerns, which had some Jazz fans worried that he might not be joining the team in Orlando, the Instagram posts seem to put those worries to rest.