Just a few days after the Utah Jazz were eliminated from the NBA Playoffs by the Dallas Mavericks, a report surfaced on Monday claiming that Rudy Gobert had reached a “him or me” point with teammate Donovan Mitchell.
“I know I am not usually @utahjazz breaking news guy, but a source close to situation has informed me that Rudy Gobert is at ‘him or me’ point with Donovan Mitchell and will demand that one of them be traded in next few days. Doesn’t feel they will win championship together,” SiriusXM’s Sean O’Connell wrote on Twitter.
“Rudy feels that his own numbers are consistent or getting better, while Don is D liability and is falling off in terms of explosiveness,” he continued. “Gobert also aware of at least 1 Western Conference power that would be willing to pay handsomely for his abilities. (NBA teams never tamper...).”
A few hours after O’Connell’s tweet went viral, Gobert hopped on Twitter to seemingly deny the report.
“Everyday has it’s own new ‘rumor,’” Gobert wrote.
Regardless of whether or not the report is true or merely a rumor, there’s no denying that it might be time for the Jazz to break up their two-headed monster.
In their five seasons together, Mitchell and Gobert have been selected to three All-Star games each; meanwhile, Gobert is a three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, as well as a three-time All-NBA selection.
However, despite their individual accolades, Mitchell and Gobert have never led the Jazz past the second round of the NBA Playoffs. Since the 2017-18 season, which coincided with Mitchell’s rookie year, Utah has lost twice in the Western Conference Semifinals (2018, 2021), and three times in the first round (2019, 2020, 2022).
Only time will tell if Utah will finally say goodbye to the organization’s greatest one-two punch since the days of Karl Malone and John Stockton.
