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SALT LAKE CITY — Rudy Gobert's pointed remarks didn't go unnoticed.
On Friday, Gobert, who had just returned from health and safety protocols, made some comments that raised some eyebrows among the Jazz fan base — and within his own team.
Gobert said the Jazz didn't have the "winning habits" like the Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns, and pointed out how Suns guard Devin Booker has been playing his "ass off defensively."
"Guys like that, they buy in, and you can tell they take pride in playing defense and stopping their man, doing whatever they can defensively to stop the other team and be part of a winning culture," he said.
It caused quite a stir, especially once Donovan Mitchell and Jordan Clarkson acknowledged the comments by liking a tweet of the comments on Twitter.
On Saturday, before the Jazz boarded a flight to Denver for Sunday's game against the Nuggets, Mitchell and Clarkson responded to the less-than-veiled remarks from the All-NBA center.
Did they feel like Gobert was calling them out?
"It ain't like he pointed out a big man or nothing," said Clarkson on Saturday.
Mitchell added: "I think we all, as a group, find ways to hold each other accountable. That's just his way about it, I guess. I'm not really concerned about it. At the end of the day, we all find ways to get better. That's really it. We all have individual ways of doing it, and he just happens to be this way. So, cool."
It's no secret the Jazz have been bad without Gobert. In the five games without the three-time Defensive Player of the Year, the Jazz allowed 118.6 points per game and had the second lowest defensive rating in the league.
So when Clarkson was asked why he liked a tweet featuring the remarks, he said it was already clear what the Jazz needed to do.
"It's just defense; it's our focus. It is what it is," Clarkson said. "That's what we don't hold our hat on. That's what we've been talking about all year — just defense. We don't got to specify or talk about other teams and what they're doing. We know what we got to do. That's it. Plain and simple.
"We don't need anybody else coming out in the media saying stuff like that, though, but it's all good," he added.
Was it annoying? Yes. Detrimental to the team's chemistry? Unlikely.
Mitchell was then asked about a recent report about him possibly preferring to play in a bigger market (it should be noted he's in the first year of a five-year contract), he cut off the question before it could be finished.
"Y'all like to talk a lot when we lose. I don't understand," Mitchell said. "Y'all like to just keep all the negative stuff when we start losing. When we are winning there's nothing said. So I'll just go ahead and say, we're trying to win a championship."
Mitchell said he understood why reporters needed to ask the questions but suggested that sometimes it's being done to push or create drama.
"It's annoying, but that's how this business is. That's the media for you," he said. "As long as the guys in the locker or on the court understand what it is, we have one goal. We've got to do a lot of things to get to our goal. And that's really what it is, but it always comes when we start losing so it's funny how that works."
Jazz coach Quin Snyder downplayed any potential rift within the team. He said the comments that Gobert made weren't anything that hadn't already been said internally.
To him, it hasn't been a surprise the Jazz have struggled without Gobert. The same way it wouldn't have been a surprise to see the team struggle without Mitchell or Mike Conley. Each season will have ups and downs — the Jazz are just in a low moment.
"We ended up having the best record in the league and lost in the playoffs (last season), and none of that mattered," Snyder said." So, you could make the argument that none of this matters, if, indeed, we're playing at our best at the right time. That's my focus. For us to be the best version of ourselves at the end of the year."
That said, he admitted, it's still important to recognize the way a team is playing and how it can be better. In this case, Gobert had a point. The habits, so to speak, need to be better.
"The good thing for us is that we have been better in those things," Snyder said.
