GOOD SPORT: Jazz challenging non-believers
The Utah Jazz have been very successful the past few years, and I believe that this year is their time to win it all in the NBA. The last time the Jazz were this good, Karl Malone and John Stockton were still on the team. This was also the last time they were relevant to other fan bases. Despite their lack of respect, the Utah Jazz influence is everywhere.
Look at the pick and roll. You cannot think about that basic of basketball without Karl Malone and John Stockton. Pistol Pete Maravich is a legend that any true basketball fan must respect.
The Utah Jazz are the definition of under-appreciated. Everyone knows the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors because of their all-star athletes, but the Jazz have all stars as well. Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell were just named all stars for the second year in a row.
Utah not only has all stars, but they have an all-star head coach now as well. Coach Quin Snyder will be the coach of the West for the 70th all star game. Snyder, who won NBA coach of the month in both December and January, will serve as all-star coach for the first time.
People still refuse to believe that the Jazz are the number one seed in the NBA and have been for all of February. This means that they are above every other team including Lebron James’s team and Steph Curry’s.
Some of my classmates believe that the Utah Jazz are just getting lucky and have no popularity. These same people are complimenting the varsity Indians’ bright yellow basketball shoes–the same shoes that came from Donovan Mitchell’s shoe line and are worn by him and different teammates nightly.
Another thing people ignore is center Rudy Gobert. He is hated by many NBA fans because his playing style focuses on his defense and most think he’s not even a good defensive player. These same people fail to recognize that he was defensive player of the year for two years in a row in 2018 and 2019. His defense causes other team’s center’s to be “sick” or “taking a rest” when it’s time to go head to head with Gobert.
The new owner of the Jazz, Ryan Smith, is also well-known. After the Miller family gave Smith majority ownership of the Jazz, all of the fans thought there was no one better for the job than Smith. Smith founded 5 For The Fight which is a cancer research charity that the Utah Jazz has supported since 2016. When the NBA began letting owners put advertisements on the uniforms, the Jazz family chose to promote a non-profit charity instead.
Whenever the Jazz do amazing things, many in the mainstream media and basketball fans say, “Oh, but it’s just the Jazz. Who cares about them?” I’m here to tell you that the Jazz may not be a team that most follow and believe have the greatest players of all time, but they aren’t a team to be ignored either. Next time you say that Utah is irrelevant, look at the facts and see if that’s really the case. If the Jazz weren’t a force to be reckoned with, you wouldn’t be wearing their shoes.
