SALT LAKE CITY — For the most part, sports and player honors go hand-in-hand with the stardom achieved on courts and fields across all levels of athletics. But then there are the superstars who transcend the games and are measured by what was accomplished off the playing field.
Donovan Mitchell is one of those superstars, and the entire state of Utah was that playing field.
Mitchell packed a lot of excitement in is his five seasons as a member of the Jazz, but following his trade to Cleveland on Thursday, he will be equally remembered for the social awareness and community efforts he brought to the Salt Lake area.
“I know how hard he played in every game to me he was bringing his 100 percent,” said President of the NAACP Salt Lake Branch Jeanetta Williams.
“I have been a diehard jazz and for forever and this is gonna be a really tough pill to swallow I can say that,” she said.
From his first days as a rookie, Mitchell never backed down from speaking his own mind and supporting those who had the courage to fight social injustice.
Following the nationwide protests over the 2020 murder of George Floyd, Mitchell applauded the efforts of the NBA, but said there was more work to be done in regards to social reforms.
“I think the best part that I’m happy about is that the foot is still on the gas as far as continuing to have those conversations. It hasn’t died down,” Mitchell said.
In a tweet sent out last year, Mitchell called efforts to ban critical race theory in Utah schools "unfortunate."
"I don’t know where to start.... racism is taught... and the fact that kids are being told by their own parents to not learn about black history and black excellence is sickening and sad!! And this is just part of the problem..... smh," he tweeted.
“There was not a time that I don't remember when somebody said that they reached out to Donovan to ask for help in any type of way financial health in particular and and he always stepped up and helped,” said Williams.
Mitchell was selected to serve on the league's Social Justice Coalition to help raise awareness for reform.
“I feel like I have a perspective that not many people have, I can understand the ignorance that comes from white people, toward black people because I have seen it,” Mitchell said in an interview with ESPN in 202. “I had been around that for so many years — and then understanding the struggles of being African-American, understanding we have certain things that we just don’t have access to that I was taught in private school. I think that’s where my voice comes from because I see both sides and I understand there is a divide.”
In late 2020, Mitchell and Adidas created a sneaker for his alma mater, the University of Louisville, called "A Shoe for Change." Proceeds from the sale of the shoe went towards funding academic initiatives and scholarships.
The University of Utah honored Mitchell and his work in the community by inviting him to deliver the keynote speech to graduates in 2021.
