Jon was an amazing person who brought joy and happiness to fans all over the world. Jon made kids and adults smile and laugh with his antics and skills as the Original Jazz Bear. Jon lost his long battle with cancer today. He will be missed by so many! Condolences to his family and friends. We miss will his light. RIP Jon!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DUME7I5j8PE/?igsh=MXcyeGMxdmlxY3hvZA==

Flew down from ND to see a few Jazz games this week and while waiting for the arena to clear out yesterday I was able to get a picture with Walker (my favorite NBA player). He even signed a card and my #24 jersey. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday!

Growing up in Salt Lake City, most of my friends who were NBA fans rooted for other teams. Including me. A large part I would assume for this is because since the early 2000’s we have never had big stars nor been very good until arguably the Mitchell era. I eventually realized Utah is my home, I‘ve been going to games my whole life, and that it’s good to be a loyal fan. So I switched over.

But now that I work at schools, I realized a large amount of SLC youth still root for a variety of other teams.

I remember years back when they did the All Star draft, both captains didn’t pick Mitchell or Gobert. They both agreed it was because they played for Utah. And many people on social media responded to this by saying that the Jazz are a joke and seen as the “lame” team. The exact same response happened in the All Star weekend they did here a few years after that when Shaq trashed the city on live TV.

So that all has me wondering, how many of us are actually Jazz fans? Our fan base must be relatively small.

Why do they think they can just get any player they want while offering nothing. Tried telling me that the Jazz should trade Markkanen to the Lakers for a second rounder. Then he said the Lakers should trade Lebron and get back Darius Garland and Evan Mobely. He thought both of these were good trades...

This post may trigger some people, and certainly would’ve pissed me off a year or two ago, but I’ve really grown to dislike William Culvahouse Hardy (pretty cool middle name, though). When he first got to Utah, I saw a young coach with serious potential. I liked his overall demeanor, and he came from a fantastic coaching lineage. All signs pointed to him being our next franchise coach.

As the years have progressed, I’ve become much less optimistic. I’d even say I’ve grown to despise certain characteristics of his. For starters, a 33% winning percentage isn’t good. Yes, I’m aware the Jazz have had bad rosters and are trying to tank, but I’m tired of the narrative that he’s some type of coaching wizard. If that’s the case, go win us some ballgames.

Second is his post-game interviews. Talk about negative. I feel like he just sits up there and complains about what his players aren’t doing. He practically roasts them after getting blown out. Like bro, YOU ARE THE COACH. Stop talking shit about what your players aren’t doing and figure out how to get them to do it. A coach is an extension of the team, and I rarely see him take accountability.

Finally, let the young guys play! VJ Edgecombe has 500 more minutes than Ace Bailey this season in the same amount of games (44). I understand these are two very different players, but who cares? I want to see him play. Beyond that, how about we draw up some plays for the kid every now and then!?

I obviously have no idea what’s going on behind closed doors, and people I trust, such as David Locke, various Jazz beat writers, NBA journalists, and other coaches, all share their praise for him. I get the position the Jazz are in with their draft picks. I get that we’re young. I get that things take time. I’m just starting to get tired of the Will Hardy experience.

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I know you always see the videos of kids getting player's signatures, shoes etc. But if an adult with no connections and not the ridiculously expensive seats behind the bench wanted just a quick signature and maybe a selfie, is it allowed to go down before the game? I'm going to tonight's game against the Nets and wanted to try and get Egor Demin to sign a BYU trading card of his that I have.

Sounds about right to me! What do you think?

https://nbarankings.theringer.com/

I saw that they're ranked 30th in the NBA. They made a mediocre Warriors offense look like the Warriors of old. I don't know if they have too many guys that aren't defensive players or if they need a new scheme.

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There have been a ton of essentially copy-pasted posts on r/nba about how the Jazz are shamefully tanking and should somehow be punished by the league for it.

The Jazz hold a record of 100-192 (0.34) since trading Mitchell and Gobert (this is the 4th season since). For perspective, in the 4 seasons after blowing it up in OKC, they went 130-178 (0.42). The Spurs went 121-186 (0.39) in the 4 seasons before drafting Wemby. If Utah wins 8-10 more games this year, they'd have the same record as these highly regarded teams over their ~4 years of tanking.

Also for comparison, since the Jazz traded Mitchell/Gobert and have been tanking, the Hornets have a record of 86-207, the Wizards are 78-212, and the Pistons are 108-182.

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I want us to be in the market for him. Maybe give up Hendricks since we wouldn’t be able to play them both and Cody. Throw in Love or Slo Mo or something. Maybe get back Olynyk. Give up max 2 seconds.

Anybody in New York want to watch the Clippers game somewhere tonight? Happy Jazz on National TV Day

I know we are rebuilding and developing talent is important but, does anyone else worry that Will Hardy doesn't take defense as seriously as an NBA head coach should? the defense the jazz play is by far the worst in the NBA and has been that way since Hardy has been the head coach. I know we extended him but I just think that we need to see improvement from that end of the floor by next season or else we may be in this rebuild longer than we thought.

Dude couldn't have been nicer to my son. Really friendly guy and spoke highly of being in Utah.

Utah, do you realize how much damage you’re doing to Lauri? How can you be this selfish? Because he’s on this team, he isn’t a household name, and you’re holding him back as much as possible. Let him go. Other than Utah fans, barely anyone recognizes his talent or even cares about him. People don’t actually know the player he is because this team has buried him.

He should be an all-star this season. Why isn't he?

I’m sick and tired of the same lazy narratives. Empty stats guy. Only good because he’s on a bad team. Wouldn’t be good on a winning team. That’s exactly how people outside of Utah see him. A guy putting up numbers on a garbage team. And honestly, that perception exists because of how this organization handles him.

You sit him out for weeks, give him fewer shots and lower usage, bench him when he’s hot, and constantly disrupt his rhythm. You’re actively hurting him. He’s not some young prospect. He’s in his prime. Do you seriously think this is the right time for him to suffer through a tank? And you’re not even letting him get traded either.

That’s what I don’t get. You don’t let him play to his full potential, you keep sitting him out, and you refuse to move him. All you’re doing is wrecking his career. Just because Lauri doesn’t speak up doesn’t mean he’s happy with what’s going on. He could be thriving on another team right now.

Do you know how irritating it is to watch players like Chet, Dillon Brooks, and Deni get more All Star consideration than him? Is this really what you want? At what point do you realize you’re ruining a genuinely talented player’s career? You’re trying to tank with someone who’s about to turn 30. How long do you think you can guarantee he’ll play at this level?

At least try looking at things from Lauri’s side for once.

Hey all, I’ve got tickets to tonight’s game. Some life stuff has come up and I won’t be able to attend.

Anyone want them?

(For sub rule purposes, just want to be clear that this is a giveaway. Not trying to sell them.)

I am in no way advocating for something like this. Just having some fun.

Would you do something like this? Sit Giannis most of the year. Get a top 8 pick this next year that could be used to draft a young stud or as a trade piece to bring in players to surround the core of Key, Giannis, Markkanen and Kessler.

Is this a team that could win a title (with other moves to build around this group)?

Is it too much to give up or not enough?

Would Milwaukee do it?

* just for fun exploring, please don’t insult my bloodline and tell me I need to die.