Donovan Mitchell says Jazz players got drunk the night of the COVID-19 shutdown thanks to Chris Paul - CBSSports.com site: media arena: nba pageType: stories section: slug: donovan-mitchell-says-jazz-players-got-drunk-the-night-of-the-covid-19-shutdown-thanks-to-chris-paul sport: basketball route: article_single.us 6-keys: media/spln/nba/reg/free/stories CBSSports.com 247Sports MaxPreps SportsLine Shop Play Golf Stubhub Caesars Sportsbook CBS Sports Home Sports HQ Fantasy NFL NCAA FB MLB Soccer NBA Golf NHL NCAA BB NCAA WBB Champions League MMA WWE Boxing NASCAR Motor Sports USFL NWSL WNBA Horse Racing Olympics Big3 Tennis High School WSOP Shop Promotions PBR 3Ice Stubhub Play Golf Play

Games

Play Now Football Pick em Play Now College Football Pick em View your Leagues

Caesars Sportsbook

Fantasy Football

Football Pick em

College Pick em

Fantasy Baseball

Fantasy Basketball

Fantasy Hockey

Franchise Games

See All Sports Games Watch

7 Ole Miss at LSU

Paramount+ NCAA Football UEFA Champions League Serie A Liga Argentina Profesional Brasileirão NWSL Watch CBS Sports Network TV Shows & Listings Bet

BET WITH CAESARS

BET FOOTBALL BET BASKETBALL BET BASEBALL BET HOCKEY BET GOLF BET FUTURES BET LIVE IN-GAME Podcasts

Fantasy Football Today

Start or Sit (NFC Home Games)

Nothing Personal with David Samson

Talking the business of sports Podcasts Home Fantasy Football Today NFL Pick Six Cover 3 College Football Eye On College Basketball Morning Kombat The First Cut Golf Log In My Teams Organize / See All Teams Help Account Settings Log Out Power Rankings Standings

Donovan Mitchell says Jazz players got drunk the night of the COVID-19 shutdown thanks to Chris Paul

The Jazz players were looking for a way to take the edge off after teammate Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19

By Chris Bengel Oct 21, 2022 at 12:33 pm ET • 1 min read Getty Images On March 11, 2020, the Utah Jazz were at the center of the sports world when Rudy Gobert's positive COVID-19 shut down the 2019-20 NBA season, starting a domino effect that changed sports for the following few of years. In an appearance on the latest episode of "The Old Man and The Three" podcast with JJ Redick, Donovan Mitchell stated that the Jazz players ended up getting drunk in the locker room after their game against the Oklahoma City Thunder was postponed. "I wouldn't say it was panic in the locker room. It was just like, what can we do? We're just here," Mitchell said. "Shout out to (Chris Paul -- then with the Thunder), sent 15 bottles of wine that night. So we had food and then we (had) wine. "We got drunk. I'm not gonna lie to you, we got drunk. Cause we're just like, alright, so there's definitely no game. We're not playing for a while, and you're in a moment where everybody's calling. Everybody's calling. We're on FaceTime with everybody. Anybody you can think of is calling everybody in this locker room. And we're sitting there like, we just don't know what's gonna happen. We're trying to drink to not be scared, like you know what I mean? One of those moments where you're helpless." Mitchell and the rest of the Jazz players spent about nine hours in their locker room before they were permitted to leave the arena. The All-Star guard, who now plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers, also said that a man wearing a hazmat suit ended up driving the players back to a hotel. Mitchell wanted to see if he could find someone that could arrange a private plane to take the players back to Utah, but didn't have any luck in that pursuit. "I'll never forget that night," Mitchell added. "I have pictures on my phone from that night that I'll probably frame up in my house at some point in time and tell my kids like, 'This is one of the biggest moments in sports, in history of the country.'" The 2019-20 NBA season ended up being shut down until late July before returning to finish out the year inside of the bubble at Walt Disney World. It's certainly a moment that many will never forget, but Mitchell and his Jazz teammates will always have a wild story to tell.

Our Latest Stories

Report Silver NBA to pay special attention to tanking

Jack Maloney • 1 min read

NBA DFS picks lineups advice October 22 strategy

CBS Sports Staff • 3 min read

Morant has Grizzlies off to flying start

Jack Maloney • 2 min read

Celtics off to strong start despite turbulent offseason

Michael Kaskey-Blomain • 3 min read

Gobert Wembanyama something the world has never seen

Jack Maloney • 2 min read

Report Lakers work out FA wing Harkless

Sam Quinn • 1 min read

Watch Now:

Mitchell says Jazz players got drunk after shutdown

Chris Bengel 1 min read

Celtics off to strong start despite offseason

Michael Kaskey-Blomain 3 min read

Wall shines in Clippers debut

Sam Quinn 3 min read

Harden fully embracing midrange

Brad Botkin 1 min read

Harden a silver lining amid 76ers slow start

Michael Kaskey-Blomain 4 min read

Bucks win but clearly miss Middleton

Jack Maloney 2 min read

Report Silver NBA to pay special attention to tanking

Jack Maloney 1 min read

Report Lakers bring in Harkless for FA workout

Sam Quinn 1 min read

Morant s historic start has Grizzlies riding high

Jack Maloney 2 min read

Report Pacers Turner to miss at least one week

Jasmyn Wimbish 1 min read