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Utah Jazz: Imagining a dream All-Star weekend for Jazz fans

By Jared Woodcox

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 17: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz dunks over Kevin Hart and crew during the Verizon Slam Dunk Contest during State Farm All-Star Saturday Night as part of the 2018 NBA All-Star Weekend on February 17, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 17: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz dunks over Kevin Hart and crew during the Verizon Slam Dunk Contest during State Farm All-Star Saturday Night as part of the 2018 NBA All-Star Weekend on February 17, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Rudy Gobert Utah Jazz
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – JANUARY 27: Rudy Gobert #27 of the Utah Jazz speaks with the media after the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on January 27, 2019 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images) /

NBA All-Star Game — Rudy Gobert

Of all the ones on the list, this is the most realistic and most disappointing that it didn’t come to fruition. We’ve discussed in detail on The J-Notes how Rudy Gobert‘s All-Star snub was an absolute atrocity, and there’s just no backing down from that. The big man has had an incredible season and certainly deserved the nod over the likes of Karl-Anthony Towns and LaMarcus Aldridge, and perhaps others as well.

Instead, the Jazz will be without an All-Star yet again, making an already dull game even more disappointing. Had Rudy Gobert qualified as he deserved to, it would have been incredible to see him actually bringing his Defensive Player of the Year-caliber defense to the floor to stun some of the game’s most prolific offensive forces.

It also would have added some intrigue, not only for Jazz fans anxious to see their best player in action, but to fans of all teams wanting to see the best of the best on BOTH ends of the floor. Instead, Rudy will be watching from his living room once again, likely shaking his head at the laughable lack of defense and the difference in talent between himself and some of the other qualifiers.

I suppose to truly make All-Star Weekend perfect for Jazz fans, you could argue that Donovan Mitchell could be featured here, too, alongside Rudy Gobert. That would be an incredible spectacle. Though I must say that I have to agree that Mitchell wasn’t quite worthy of the nod.

Utah Jazz: Donovan Mitchell rocks ho-hum Rising Stars game. dark. Next

So 2019 will be yet another All-Star Game in which the Utah Jazz are quite limited in their representation. It’s fun to imagine what it would be like if they could be littered throughout the events, but such wasn’t the case this year, and likely won’t be for seasons to come.

At a minimum, ideally we’ll get to see both Gobert and Mitchell in the weekend’s main event sooner rather than later.

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