It is a civic responsibility bestowed upon every American citizen — jury duty.

Unless that citizen happens to be a star basketball player in the middle of an NBA season. 

Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell was recently summoned for jury duty, but the team let the state of Utah know that now is not a good time.

LHM Sports & Entertainment, which represents the Jazz, wrote a letter on behalf of Mitchell asking that he be "excused from jury service during this time given his commitments and schedule during the NBA season."

Mitchell was summoned for jury duty from January 9, 2019 through to February 1, 2019.

This is not the first time an athlete has been summoned and it will not be the last.

Back in 2013, while he was a member of the Miami Heat, LeBron James fulfilled his obligation for jury duty and even posted a picture on Instagram to document the experience. 

And in 2009, Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant actually showed up to court, only to be excused a couple hours later.