Both Donovan Mitchell and Joe Ingles took further steps to win over the hearts of Utah Jazz fans by putting up John Stockton themed tweets this weekend.
It’s been one roller coaster of an offseason for the Utah Jazz organization and their fans. What started out as what many supposed would be simply the next step in an optimistic future quickly turned into disappointment with the departure of Gordon Hayward, but fortunately Dennis Lindsey was able to orchestrate a relatively smooth recovery with the addition of some savvy veteran players.
Nevertheless, seeing Hayward leave was still a hard pill for Jazz fans to swallow and age-old questions that have long followed the franchise regarding whether or not the team can ever become a desirable destination for top talent once again began to surface. Fortunately, this offseason the Jazz have gotten plenty of reassurance from the likes of Rudy Gobert, Joe Ingles and newly drafted rookie Donovan Mitchell that playing in Utah is still a desirable option.
Not to mention, each of Utah’s most recent free agent signings all expressed great excitement to be involved with the organization. There certainly have been a lot of “pick-me-ups” since the Hayward fiasco that have helped Jazz fans feel a greater connection with their current team and excitement for what lays ahead for the determined squad.
And on Sunday that trend only continued as both Donovan Mitchell and Joe Ingles took to Twitter to show their love for the team. In both cases, they did so by utilizing the most iconic Jazzman of all time – John Stockton. Check out what they had to show to Jazz Nation in the tweets below:
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) July 24, 2017
As many people have brought up on Twitter, it seems that Donovan Mitchell may have found a book describing the perfect way to win over the hearts of Jazz fans, because so far he’s seemingly followed every single step to a T. The 13th overall draft pick out of Louisville was notably excited to join the Jazz from day one and it’s clear that his outlook hasn’t changed in the least.
Meanwhile, Ingles who agreed to a four-year, $52 million contract this offseason, clearly has plenty of reasons to love the Jazz. And his willingness to embrace the team and fan base has certainly been on full display as well.
It would seem that Ingles and Mitchell are engaged in a social media contest to see who can win over the most fans’ hearts and I would say it’s about dead even for now. Yet as nice as the online gestures are and as much as I’d like to see them continue, I hope even more that these two Jazzmen will be able to further their case of winning fans over based on their performances on the court.
Several players on the Jazz roster will have to step up in the wake of Hayward’s departure and Ingles and Mitchell are certainly two prime candidates to do so.
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Showcasing the Jazz love is certainly a positive, though, and as the team and organization continue to do things the right way, hopefully they’ll be able to get more talented players from around the league to want to buy in to the special environment the Jazz are fostering as well as get their own key guys to have a desire to stay put.
If Mitchell and Ingles are any indication of the way players are going to start and continue seeing the Jazz, then that’s an extremely reassuring sign.