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SALT LAKE CITY — When Donovan Mitchell walked out of the visitor's tunnel about an hour before tip-off on Tuesday, he spotted two young fans both wearing his jersey.
He greeted them with a smile and took the time to sign each jersey. The fans couldn't hold back the emotion of the moment; and as the former Jazz star walked away, tears started streaming down their faces.
After being told of the fans' reaction immediately following the exchange, Mitchell smiled and said, "I can't look or I'll start to cry, too."
There is still love for Mitchell in Salt Lake City.
There was a similar scene two weeks ago when Rudy Gobert and the Minnesota Timberwolves came to town. Gobert met with kids before one of the games and spent time posing for pictures.
When it comes to making new memories in the arena they once shined in, those experiences would have to do. Neither Mitchell nor Gobert — the players who were once Jazz franchise cornerstones — ended up playing a game in Utah this season.
Gobert missed the Wolves' two-game set in Salt Lake City due to a left rib sprain. Mitchell missed Cleveland's win over the Jazz on Tuesday due to injury management.
The former Jazz guard has played only seven games since the All-Star break; he's missed seven games with a left knee bone bruise and then six games with a broken nose.
"(We're) just trying to pay attention to his body and then the schedule that's ahead of us," Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. "Just trying to make sure we don't overwhelm him by any means, and make sure he's getting the rest that he needs so that we can continue to progress him in the way that we like."
The Jazz were a pretty safe game to grab a rest against. Utah lost its 10th straight game on Tuesday and is 3-20 since the trade deadline.
But Mitchell's absence, which wasn't announced until Tuesday afternoon, left some fans disappointed.
"My husband wanted to do a little booing, but we mostly wanted to remember the good times," said one fan who drove from Logan for the game. (She said former Aggies star Sam Merrill's 18-point performance was a nice consolation prize.)
Gobert understood that disappointment. He felt the same way when he was ruled out for both games of a two-game series in Utah in the middle of March.
"I mean, it's frustrating for sure, especially when I really wanted to," he said. "A lot of people came to watch me, and I'd obviously love to play here. But, yeah, it's an NBA season. Sometimes you can't control injuries that happen, but it's really disappointing."
It only added to the disappointment that it was the first time his girlfriend had come to Utah. Gobert had taken her on a hike ("it was hard for her because she is pregnant") and hosted a dinner at his house for his teammates.
He got to re-live a bit of his life in Utah — all except the playing part.
"She knows how much this place means to me and how much Utah is a part of me, so it was cool," he said. "I was driving around town, and it's always a lot of memories."
