Donovan Mitchell has been gifted a football jersey with local flair. Also: Ricky Rubio has laid eyes on the newest Utah Jazz jerseys.
In a relatively short amount of time, Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell has become a true adopted son of the Beehive State and one of its best ambassadors. From spending much of his summer in and around Salt Lake City to defending Utah on social media, Mitchell has been more involved than most players with his place of employment.
Along those same lines, Mitchell is quickly becoming a fixture at Utah Utes football games. Most recently, he and fellow Jazzman Royce O’Neale took in the school’s 41-10 drubbing of Weber State. That support of the Utes’ football program obviously hasn’t gone unnoticed; next time he makes the trip to Rice-Eccles Stadium, Mitchell will likely be sporting his own custom Utes jersey, courtesy of the team’s football equipment staff.
@UtesEquipment on Twitter dropped this picture of Mitchell’s No. 45 in Ute red, black and white on Thursday —
As it happens, the Utes’ annual Blackout Game will be this Saturday as the team plays host to the 10th-ranked Washington Huskies. It’s a huge game for the program and it looks as though Mitchell could be on-hand and black-clad to take in the action.
If the Utes’ uneven performance against Northern Illinois last weekend is any indication, they could probably use some of that Spida magic.
Rubio teases new jersey
In other Jazz-centric jersey news, Ricky Rubio also took to Twitter on Thursday to talk new kits. Although he was unable to share pictures, Utah’s starting point-man says he’s seen the new Jazz jerseys for next season.
His appraisal: Jazz fans will like what the see.
Earlier this year, SportsLogos.net’s Conrad Burry reported that the Jazz would add a purple “Classic Edition” jersey. Uniforms resembling the purple roadies that the team wore throughout the ’80s and early ’90s are in the NBA Live 19 video game, leading some to believe that they are the new Classic kits.
However, those jerseys have appeared in video games before without actually having been re-introduced on the court.
Whatever the new jerseys look like, Rubio clearly approves of their design.