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Chris Paul putting friendship with Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell aside

Donovan Mitchell, Chris Paul

One of the storylines to watch with the Houston Rockets and the Utah Jazz is the relationship between Chris Paul and Donovan Mitchell, and how Paul might have actually helped the Jazz get to this point.

When Donovan Mitchell was deciding if he wanted to go to the NBA after his sophomore season at Louisville there were two guys really pushing him to declare, Paul George and Chris Paul.

“(Chris Paul) and Paul George are the main reasons why I’m here,” Mitchell told the Deseret News in November. “They told me that I should definitely stay in the draft and had a big influence on my decision.

Without that push from Paul, Mitchell may have decided to return to school for another year, and chances are the Jazz wouldn’t be making the playoffs without him.

But now that the two teams are playing each other, the friendship has to be put aside at least for this series and it’s all business.  The night that the Jazz closed out the Oklahoma City Thunder Mitchell received a text from his mentor.

“Congrats, talk to you after the series,” Chris Paul sent him late Friday according to Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News.

During their first-round series against the Thunder, Paul was texting Mitchell tips on how to get past them and set up the second round matchup.

Now that the second round matchup is here though, Paul is only concerned about the Rockets winning this series and the friendship can wait.

“It’s all competition, never nothing personal,” Paul said.

The post Chris Paul putting friendship with Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell aside appeared first on ClutchPoints.

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