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SALT LAKE CITY — Donovan Mitchell remembers being tired — really tired.
During the second half of last season, Mitchell would spend his days off at home sleeping, just catch up on some much-needed rest. He’d rather not have that issue again. And that’s a major reason why Mitchell has chosen not to defend his NBA Slam Dunk title at the 2019 All-Star weekend in Charlotte next month. The Deseret News' Eric Woodyard was the first to report the news.
“It really stemmed from when I got hurt — the three different times I got hurt this year," Mitchell said. "I remember last year when I came back from All-Star, I was tired. I was tired.”
Instead of spending the energy for an individual award, he’d rather be ready for his team’s second-half-of-the-season push. Despite winning eight of their last 10 games, the Jazz are still sitting outside of the playoffs heading into Friday's game against the Cavs. Mitchell has averaged 27.2 points, 4.9 assists and 4.0 rebounds so far in January.
“For me, it’s tough because it’s my favorite event in the entire weekend,” Mitchell said. “But I just wanted to be ready mentally and physically for my team. Obviously, with the year we’ve had, we haven’t really taken off from the beginning like we thought we would. So we need this second half of the season. For me and my teammates, I think it would be better if I were to rest and be mentally focused for the second half.”
The second-year guard didn’t rule out a return to the contest in the future, though, saying that he would “love to do it again.”
“But I think now, with everything that’s happened this past season, I just wanted to experience an All-Star without doing it and see how I feel and compare the two,” Mitchell said. “It’s all a learning experience for me.”
