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The Utah Jazz’s win in Detroit on Thursday night was as chaotic as any game has been for the Jazz this season. There were fights and injuries and ejections and bloody noses and everything in between.
Amid all the wild turns and events of the night, Keyonte George was dealing with a heckling fan. No, not the one that he argued with near the baseline before George went to the locker room to have his left ankle re-taped. There was a fan sitting courtside near halfcourt, a fan that everyone in the building knew — Jalen Rose.
The retired player, who is a Detroit native, started talking trash to George early on in the night after George went 3-for-3 from 3-point range in the first quarter.
“It was just OG friendly trash talk,” George said after the game. “That was a fun talking back and forth with him.”
Rose was having a great time — dancing during timeouts, yelling chants with the fans, calling out to Lauri Markkanen, and especially talking trash to George.
The second-year Jazz guard finished the night with 28 points, four rebounds, three assists and a block while shooting 7-of-13 from beyond the arc. After having spent the night heckling George, Rose, who has worked as an NBA analyst for a number of years, took a moment after the game was over to shake George’s hand and tell him that he enjoyed watching him work.
“Obviously, he played this game, and he respect the game, and he gives game back. You know, I see him on TV all the time and it was just a cool moment,” George said. “Seeing him try to talk a little trash to me and then after the game dap me up, tell me to keep going, tell me to stick with it, that’s all you can ask for as a young guy in this league. All the older guys that have been through this and did what they did, they’re just giving the game back to us. I just appreciate him talking to me after the game, kind of showing his appreciation for how I played. That was fun.”
On top of the win and the hype of all the other extracurriculars of the night, George came away having enjoyed being heckled by one of the legends of the game. Not a bad way to spend a Thursday night in Detroit.
New with the Jazz
Quote of the week
“I’m not too big on practice or a lot of practices. I would love to just show up at seven o’clock, throw my jersey on, go get in layup line and start the game. But, you know, it is the NBA. We got to come to work.” — Jordan Clarkson
From the archives
Extra points
- What the NBA is saying about BYU’s Egor Demin (Deseret News)
- Is Walker Kessler moving toward becoming a stretch-five? (Deseret News)
- Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks can’t travel yet, so he threw kids a holiday party instead (KSL.com)
Around the league
- Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Maya Moore among new HOF nominees.
- Victor Wembanyama’s 42-point night has NBA buzzing.
- Stephen Curry, Draymond Green held without a field goal as Grizzlies rout Warriors.
Up next
- Dec. 21 | 5:30 p.m. MST | Utah Jazz @ Brooklyn Nets | KJZZ
- Dec. 23 | 5 p.m. MST | Utah Jazz @ Cleveland Cavaliers | KJZZ
- Dec. 26 | 8 p.m. MST | Utah Jazz @ Portland Trail Blazers | NBA TV
- Dec. 28 | 7:30 p.m. MST | Utah Jazz vs. Philadelphia 76ers | KJZZ