Will Hardy Shares Final Message to Jazz Locker Room
The 2022-23 season is in the books for the Utah Jazz. Despite the best efforts of the players and coaches, the Jazz couldn't overcome the harsh trinity of high roster turnover, genuine injuries, and questionable front-office shenanigans.
And so, for the first time in many years, the Jazz will sit out of the playoff tournament entirely. However, as we're still just in the early days of Utah's season being over, now is the time to be reflective on all that happened.
That's the tone head coach Will Hardy took when he was asked what his message to the team was on Sunday after playing its last game of the season.
“I just told them that I love them and that I’m proud of them," Hardy said on Sunday. "And I think they were amazing with me and the staff this year. They had a first-time head coach and they just rolled with everything. Like I said pre-game, they let us try things. They let us change things up from time to time. They were very flexible in their thinking all year, which is something that we tried to stress."
No doubt, the Jazz players rolled with the punches at a level that's rarely seen in the NBA. That's a credit to Hardy and his staff for emphasizing that "flexible" mindset early on.
Another point Hardy really tried to drive home to his players all year is that playing hard and having fun are not mutually exclusive.
"I learned this year that you can be competitive, care about winning, compete every day, dig in, and enjoy it," Hardy said. "You can do those things at the same time. I’ve watched, over the last five years in the NBA, there’s seems to be a certain level of unhappiness around the league. And there’s pressure and expectations and all those things, and I totally understand that. But you are allowed to enjoy this. And just because you smile and laugh from time to time doesn’t mean that you don’t care about winning."
Indeed, when the stakes are untold many millions of dollars, fame, and championships, the pressure can really mount. A little comic relief at times can pop that balloon and keep it fun for the players.
"I think that was our goal from the outset, was to try and create an environment that our players wanted to be in every day," Hardy said. "I never want any player to dread coming to the gym. And I think we were able to accomplish that this year. I think our team played with a tenacity and a competitiveness, but they also played with a level of joy and we had a lot of laughs along the way.”
The effectiveness of Hardy's philosophy will be put to the test this offseason in the form of the decisions that'll be made by Jordan Clarkson and Talen Horton-Tucker. It's one thing to not "dread" going to the gym, but did the players truly enjoy themselves?
If the environment Hardy cultivated was enjoyable and unique, perhaps Jazz fans shouldn't be so quick to dismiss the possibility of these players coming back. On the other hand, if Clarkson and/or Horton-Tucker depart, that's not an indictment on Hardy. After all, we're talking about big-boy dollars to be had out on the free-agent market.
At the end of the day, Hardy and the players all deserve credit for what was a hard-fought, competitive, and entertaining season. If Year 1 of Utah's rebuild is any harbinger, the seasons that will follow are set to be as fun for Jazz Nation.
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