You know how it's so easy for Utah Jazz fans to root for the Minnesota Timberwolves because of how many Jazz alumni play for them, like Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley Jr., and Joe Ingles? Well, the Cleveland Cavaliers couldn't be more opposite, and that's not because of Donovan Mitchell, but because of the cruel irony of his pairing up with James Harden.
The same Harden who sent Mitchell and the Jazz home for consecutive years in 2018 and 2019 is now Mitchell's partner-in-crime in Cleveland as they are about to embark on a playoff journey that they hope will go further than Mitchell ever did in Utah.
If that's not cruel irony for the Jazz, then what even is? The likelihood of this pairing succeeding for the Cavaliers isn't great. Since they've acquired Harden, it's honestly felt like they solved a problem but created another and still have problems with that roster despite Mitchell's best efforts.
Making it more painful is that the Jazz have been here before. They have seen alumni join forces with former playoff enemies, though this is the first time they've seen it since 2004.
Karl Malone joining Shaq & Kobe burned the eyes of the Jazz fanbase
Yeah, all apologies to the Jazz fanbase for bringing this up, but watching Malone go ring-chasing with the one team his Utah teams impressively beat multiple times in the late-90s was pretty painful.
By then, Malone was 40, so while he could still play, he was no longer asked to do what he did for Utah for two decades give or take. However, when many remember that Lakers season, which was considered a disaster because it was at the peak of Shaq and Kobe's well-publicized falling out, what comes up often is how Malone's injury may have been the difference-maker in failing to win a ring.
Now, that's what happens when a team relies on older players to come through for them - just look at what happened to the Golden State Warriors - but Malone going to the Lakers would be remembered more infamously if they had pulled it off.
For what it's worth, Jazz fans would have loved to see Malone get a title before he hung it up on any team besides the Lakers. Mitchell is on similar footing even though he played for the Jazz for about a third as long as Malone did,
But if he wins a title with Harden, the guy who ended multiple Jazz seasons, that will rub the fanbase the wrong way.
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