I think I started pretty slow getting used to the league. It was something new to me, something totally different (from) Europe and (where) I’d been the last five or six years. I’m personally happy with the progress I made throughout the year. – Joe Ingles
The label was created in many minds before Joe Ingles even arrived in Salt Lake City.
Signed by the Utah Jazz in between the end of training camp and the start of the 2014-2015 season, everything seemed to point to the idea that the Jazz front office brought the 27-year-old Ingles on for the sole purpose of having him be a glorified babysitter for 19-year-old rookie Dante Exum.
The conclusion made some sense. Ingles had been Exum’s roommate while the two represented Australia in international competition, so now as teammates the youngster would have someone familiar to turn to when times got tough.
Besides, it didn’t appear as though Ingles, who was technically a rookie despite his age, would be in a position to crack head coach Quin Snyder’s wing rotation.
Fast forward six months and 82 games, and the jovial Ingles has shown he has the game to contribute in the NBA. More important for a young team like the Jazz, he’s become a vocal leader for a group lacking in that department.
Ingles’ worth started to show early when fellow rookie swingman Rodney Hood suffered a foot injury in November.
The Jazz got even thinner in the backcourt when Alec Burks was sidelined in late December and had season-ending shoulder surgery.
Ingles wound up starting 32 games and averaged 5 points, 2.3 assists and 2.2 steals in 21.2 minutes per game.
In the process, he showed the ability to hit open shots from the perimeter and an understanding of when and how to be a playmaker despite the rather apt nickname of “Slow-Mo Joe.”
“I think I started pretty slow getting used to the league,” he said. “It was something new to me, something totally different (from) Europe and (where) I’d been the last five or six years. I’m personally happy with the progress I made throughout the year.”
But perhaps Ingles’ biggest impact came not in the stats he produced, but the leadership he provided to a team that, though by design, had little veteran presence.
With franchise cornerstones Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors more shy by nature, it was often Ingles, his teammates say, who was the vocal leader, especially after Steve Novak was traded to Oklahoma City in February.
“Joe was basically like a coach on the floor,” Hood said. “He was always directing us. Anything he saw, whether he was in the game or not, he was always telling us. He was always that voice in the huddle.”
Exum agreed.
“Joe came in as a rookie with me, but he definitely was someone that helped me, and then kind of turned into that voice on the court,” he said. “Gordon and (Derrick Favors) are a bit quiet, but he was kind of that guy that wasn’t afraid to say something and kind of took on that role.”
For Ingles, providing leadership was just about helping the team in a way he thought he’d be able to.
“I think I earned the guys’ respect,” he said. “They probably all had no idea who I was before I came here except Dante, but I think I earned the guys’ respect through my actions more than anything. I would talk to guys or they would talk to me. I think naturally I’ve always tried to be a leader. It’s kind of just my personality, really, to try to help out and be vocal when I can.”
Ingles is a free agent this summer, so his future in Utah is uncertain.
“Both sides are pretty mutually interested in (me) coming back,” he said. “We’ll obviously see what happens. I think everyone knows I’m free, so we’ll see what happens, but (there’s) definitely mutual interest.”
Ryan McDonald is a part-time reporter at the Deseret News. Follow him on Twitter @ryanwmcdonald.