Reclaim the Joy During This Special Jazz Era

There’s a lot for Jazz fan to be thankful for, writes Mark Russell Pereira (Rick Egan, The Salt Lake Tribune)

My son, Donovan, was born April 14, 2019, a few hours before the Utah Jazz opened their first-round playoff series against James Harden and the Houston Rockets. As I held my first child in the hospital, Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, and the Jazz proceeded to get blown out by 32 points. I didn’t see much of the game, for self-explanatory reasons. I watched the rest of the series at home with my son in my arms, where the Rockets quickly dispatched Utah in a gentleman’s sweep.

A disappointing ending to a good season. But I felt good. Maybe it was still the new baby euphoria, but I loved that the team was very talented and had a clear direction going forward. Gobert played very well during the series (not played off the floor, as the public still seems to insist), cementing his place as a Jazz star. And Mitchell showed so much talent and guile during a statistically poor series that I knew my Donovan would have a remarkable role model who shares his name. The Jazz didn’t win a title, but there was so much to be happy about anyways.

The inherent nature of sports leads us fans to experience almost certain misery at the end of every season. However, a season also comes with its own share of smaller, non-championship victories to celebrate, such as simple nightly Ws, or more abstract, qualitative aspects like successful player progression.

As the Jazz pile on consecutive spectacular seasons, and the championship expectations mount (yet remain unfulfilled, at least for now), we can lose appreciation for those smaller wins. The obsession grows, and winning the NBA Finals becomes the only measure of success.

Every season, every game, every play, and every shot is reduced to whether or not it improves the championship odds.

Anecdotally, I see Utah fans falling into this zero-sum emotional response during and after each game—almost nothing is enjoyed, and any misstep is immediately highlighted as a title-sinking flatlining.

It’s entirely normal to feel that way, but I implore Jazz Nation to reclaim their joy in the smaller victories.

One team wins the NBA title each year. One! What you hope for is that your team has a colorable shot at competing for that rare place in basketball history. And Utah’s chances are neon-bright. And that is true, right now, regardless of any roster construction or performance issues. I want to remind people of this, as somehow it seems that Utah’s own fans aren’t enthusiastic enough about the truly incredible professional basketball being played in Salt Lake City.

The Jazz wield an offensive rating of 116.3, which would be a top-five offense in NBA history. If that isn’t scintillating enough for you, consider how much better they are than the rest of the league. The difference between their league-leading offense and second place, the Charlotte Hornets at 112.6, is roughly the same difference as Charlotte and the 23rd-ranked New York Knicks. And, unlike Charlotte and other teams in the highest echelon of offenses, Utah also deploys a very quality defense—fifth in defensive rating until Gobert was shut down last week by health and safety protocols.

The amount of teams in NBA history who posted top-5 ratings in offense and defense is exceedingly small, and nearly all of them went on to compete in a conference finals.

And, putting broad team stats aside, the way the Jazz achieve their success is extremely entertaining. Utah barrages threes from skilled ballhandlers, or work it inside for dunk after dunk. Mitchell provides the high-octane starpower that lights up an arena. On the other end, it is objectively hilarious to witness the myriad of ways Gobert ruins an offense’s approach to anything. Jordan Clarkson captains one of the league’s finest tunnel runway shows from a team. The team is chock-full of positive voices in the community that we can be proud of.

Mitchell continues his progression towards his first All-NBA selection, joining Gobert. Utah hasn’t had two All-NBA players on the same team since Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer in 2008. And Boozer had a relatively short peak—he never made another All-NBA team (or even an All-Star team) afterwards. Gobert is already a permanent All-NBA fixture, and Mitchell is likely to become one. You would have to go back thirty years to the days of Stockton and Malone for a comparable All-NBA fixture duo in Utah.

The corollaries to prior legendary Jazz squads don’t stop with the players. In Quin Snyder, Utah has a consensus top-five coach who is locked into his position so long as he wants it. Snyder has yet to win a Coach of the Year award, but there’s a name hanging in the rafters of Vivint Arena who never won that hardware either, yet was regarded as a permanent fixture in the coaching pantheon. Snyder needs far more longevity and deep playoff runs to be regarded anywhere near the tier of Jerry Sloan, but Jazz fans should rest easy that the squad is consistently elevated due to, and not in spite of, Snyder. The majority of other teams—good teams included!—continue to rotate coaches trying to find the right progressive, malleable tactician who has player support.

All of this isn’t to say that the Jazz are above reproach. Utah’s turnovers can get out of control, the perimeter defense is frequently unacceptable, Snyder plays starters too many minutes in blowouts… the list can go on. Further, armchair team management is always a fun thought exercise and I, too, think of ways Danny Ainge and Justin Zanik can improve the roster. I’m not here to tell you “how to be a fan”; enjoy basketball however it means to you. The point is that the unrequited championship pressure has devolved much of our day-to-day appreciation of a great era of Jazz basketball.

Team futures in the NBA change rapidly and drastically; you never know when you’re suddenly back to watching a 30-win outfit, caring about ping pong balls in June. Utah is already uncomfortably supported by several 30-somethings. Gobert could suffer a serious injury. Mitchell could leave in a few years. As we levy critiques on our beloved championship contender, let’s not lose sight that we are fortunate to not have to spend our nights watching Trey Burke and Enes Kanter fail at pick-and-roll defense.

Maybe you have kids who are older than mine, and enjoy watching the games with you. Every Jazz win gives them unbridled joy, and the losses send them into a level of despondence you didn’t know was possible. Isn’t it great the Jazz give our youngest fans so much to cheer for and be happy about? I like to remind myself of that as my own children grow up, lest I get too upset over some inexplicable 19-turnover game in December (that the Jazz still won).

My Donovan is joining me for his first Jazz game this Sunday evening in Denver. I feel pretty great that he has a very good chance of also seeing his first Jazz victory—his first in person, but one of many we all will witness this season. I will be pining for Utah’s first championship as much as anyone, but I’ll make sure to relish every victory along the way.

I hope you join me.