Early this season, Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy said it was really easy for him to take players like Jordan Clarkson for granted.
When a player is professional, coachable, understands his role, is malleable, adaptable, versatile, is smarter than anyone expects and knows when the right time is to take an aggressive approach and when it’s time to step back and work as a facilitator and has the skillset to do both, it is extremely easy to just trust in that person and not really pay much attention to them.
Jordan Clarkson has been all of that and more for the Jazz, and he’s done it for more than four years now. I think it’s not just a coach who can easily take someone like Clarkson for granted. I think it’s easy as a fan to do so, too.
Last week, Clarkson broke the Jazz’s franchise record for most 30-point games by a bench player, overtaking the previous record holder, Thurl Bailey.
While that might not seem like a huge accomplishment, it really does mean something to Clarkson. He cares about those records not because of some sense of scoring prowess that it proves, but because it helps to build on the legacy that he will have in Utah.
“I think it kind of etches my time here in Utah,” Clarkson said. “Sixth Man (of the Year), all those things play a big part in the history, the culture that has been built here. I’m glad to be a part of it and have my name in all those books.”
I’m not going to beat around the bush here — it is very likely that this is Clarkson’s last season with the Jazz. With the direction the team is headed and the structure of Clarkson’s contract, it seems inevitable that the Jazz will look to trade him in the offseason, so reflecting on the time Clarkson has spent in Utah is important and necessary.
Clarkson came to the Jazz via trade, but when it was time for him to sign a new deal, he not only believed in the team the Jazz had, but he’d fallen in love with the fanbase, with the state, with everything that he’d experienced since he started wearing a Jazz uniform.
He is the only player on this roster who survived the teardown of the previous team, and that means that Clarkson has a deeper understanding for what this fanbase has endured than any of the other players currently on the team.
He has felt the joy of being on the winningest team in the regular season, he was handed the 6MOY award by fellow nominee, good friend and teammate Joe Ingles, he has had iconic moments in a Jazz uniform and out of a Jazz uniform that fans will never forget — whether it’s hitting dagger 3s, pulling off highlight passes or doing man-on-the-street interviews with unsuspecting television reporters.
He felt the heartbreak of defeat with the Jazz in the Bubble, he was with the Jazz when the Los Angeles Clippers snatched away a trip to the Western Conference Finals and still, he wanted to be here. He was asked to change his game multiple times and has always answered the call, whether by Quin Snyder or Hardy.
Clarkson has taken on every role that could be imagined for him, and each time he’s done it without question and with grace. It’s not easy to have proven yourself good enough to deserve a starting role and then to again take a role as a bench man. Clarkson has not complained but has instead gassed up the teammates who have gotten larger opportunities and been the ultimate teammate.
If and when Clarkson’s time comes to an end with the Jazz, I hope Jazz fans won’t forget what he did for the team and how even in the moments when he was taken for granted, he flashed his jeweled smile and took on everything with a message of love and positivity.