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Hello, hello, hello, friends, it’s good to be back!

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for some basketball in my life and thankfully, we’re only three weeks away from media day and the start of Utah Jazz training camp.

Unless you are chronically online (like me) and constantly moderating social media, you might be wondering what the Jazz players have been up to lately.

Early in the summer, a lot of players took vacations (though many of their vacations still included workouts). Taylor Hendricks was in Spain, Lauri Markkanen went home to Finland for a few weeks and Jordan Clarkson took his daughter to Disneyland. Quite a few players spent time in New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta for workout sessions and for pleasure.

What’s most notable though, is how many of the players have been in Utah for a majority of the summer, especially the younger players like Keyonte George, Hendricks, Isaiah Collier, Brice Sensabaugh, Cody Williams and Kyle Filipowski. Even Walker Kessler and Collin Sexton spent a lot of time in Utah this summer, working out the whole time. Well, when they weren’t running drills with the Utes or attending football games.

And even though we’re still a few weeks from training camp, a lot of other players have made their way to Salt Lake City to get a head start on things, including Markkanen and new additions Svi Mykhailiuk and Patty Mills.

Quite a few Jazz personnel were at the U.S. Open at the end of August, including owner Ryan Smith, head coach Will Hardy, and Jordan Clarkson, who attended with his girlfriend, Maggie Lindemann, and a number of fans have run into Jazz players at all sorts of events.

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But if one thing is clear, it’s that the work has been high on the priority list for everyone.

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How to pass the time in the offseason

For the last few weeks I’ve been taking care of a bunch of the stuff that doesn’t get done during the regular season. Switch out old light switches for dimmer switches, replace broken parts on the vacuum, clean the carpets in the house, hang curtains, patch holes in the wall or clean scuff marks, replace old towels with new ones. You get the gist.

I really do all of the things to keep life going in July and August. I go to every doctor and get all my checkups and exams, I make sure to buy in bulk for things I’ll need throughout the year, I fix problems around the house, take on DIY projects that I don’t have time for during the regular season and find new ones that will have to wait til next offseason. I also somehow always seem to find new injuries and health issues (I’m looking at you back spasms and broken tooth).

I realize that you all don’t have my schedule, so you don’t need to pack all these things into July and August, but, man, does it feel good when the end of the summer rolls around and I feel like I’ve really accomplished a lot in a short amount of time.

From the archives

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Why Patty Mills? A three-pronged answer for the Jazz’s most recent deal
Breaking down the Utah Jazz’s 2024-25 schedule

Extra points

  • What Will Hardy focuses on most during NBA offseason (Deseret News)
  • On the move: Where are former Jazz players set to play next season? (Deseret News)
  • Capture the Flagg: Who will be in the race to the bottom of the standings with the Utah Jazz? (Deseret News)
  • The new Utah Jazz documentary is a warm (and safe) blanket of nostalgia (KSL.com)

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