On Tuesday night, Will Hardy was not happy. He was angry, frustrated, disappointed and fed up. And he did not hide those emotions in his postgame availability with reporters.
“There’s moments where stubbornness is cute, and there’s moments where stubbornness is embarrassing,”
— Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy
The events immediately leading up to his comments consisted of a pretty impressive first half from the Jazz, where they led the Grizzlies, 65-64, at the game’s intermission. That was followed by the Grizzlies outscoring Utah 76-38 in the second half en route to a 140-103 blowout at the Delta Center.
“Part of becoming a professional basketball player in the NBA, and part of becoming an NBA team that’s competing, is the willingness to do simple things over and over again,” Hardy said. “I thought early in the game the team, on both sides of the ball, was very active, connected, unselfish. In the second quarter we had some pockets where our play wasn’t perfect. But the second half was unrecognizable in almost every way.”
What’s important to understand is that the events that immediately preceded Hardy’s postgame comments are not the whole of the story. This is Hardy’s third year coaching the Jazz, and for the whole of his tenure, the front office has managed who is available to play and constructed the roster with the intent of losing games.
That has meant a lot of time being invested in the development of young players by Hardy and his staff. And many of those young players, if they were on any other team, would not be afforded the amount of playing time that they are with the Jazz. So, while the front office expects to lose games, Hardy still expects for players to take hold of this opportunity with zeal and determination.
So far, the Jazz’s youngest prospects have not stood out as players who could be considered starters in the NBA. But, because this is the situation they are in, they are playing heavy NBA minutes. Hardy has made it clear that, even if the results don’t reflect positively, he expects for the players to play a certain way.
When that doesn’t happen, it’s understandable that Hardy finds himself questioning the motivations and desire of the players.
“There’s moments where stubbornness is cute, and there’s moments where stubbornness is embarrassing,” Hardy said. “At some point, every person needs to look in the mirror and understand what’s being asked of them, and try to do it to the best of their ability, at the highest level of intensity that they can.
“I’m a very competitive person, and there are moments where I feel like I’m having to restrain the core of who I am, because there seems to be an unwillingness, at times, to understand this is not something that you can take for granted.”
It’s a situation fraught with double standards and oxymorons. The Jazz players are expected to try their absolute best, but they also know that the front office wants to lose as many games as possible. There’s no doubt that it is difficult for the young players to put their whole heart and soul into this team when they know that the people in positions of power are banking on their failures on a night-to-night basis.
Additionally, Hardy wants for the players to hold themselves accountable and push through the weight of the situation by remembering that their NBA careers are not promised. But, because of the length of the injury report and the number of minutes to be had, even players who aren’t performing up to Hardy’s standards are going to get minutes.
So if they are going to be afforded opportunity, no matter how they play, there’s not really anything in place to force them to hold themselves accountable. Meanwhile, Hardy is the middle man at this point, trying his best to thread the fine needle of keeping the players engaged and heading in the right direction, while the front office runs the team into the bottom of the standings.
Even so, Hardy is unwilling for the players to use any of this as an excuse for selfish, undisciplined basketball.
“The NBA will stop for no one, and our program will stop for nobody,” he said. “There needs to be accountability of self first and everybody on our team needs to understand that opportunity should not be taken lightly. And a lot of our young players are getting the chance to play in games, to wear a Utah Jazz jersey and to represent themselves, and ultimately, we all have to answer for our performances.”
But will they?
I have no doubt that Hardy wishes for a team in which accountability and effort would come with consequences, good and bad. But, as mentioned above, even on nights when players are sloppy, selfish and all over the place, there are minutes for them on this team.
“At some point, every person needs to look in the mirror and understand what’s being asked of them, and try to do it to the best of their ability, at the highest level of intensity that they can.”
— Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy
And there will ostensibly be minutes for all of the Jazz’s current young players on next season’s team, as well. Even if the Jazz kept both of their first-round picks in the 2025 draft and both of their 2025 second-round picks, the only players they would have to give up from the current roster would be the non-guaranteed players (KJ Martin, Svi Mykhailiuk, Johnny Juzang and Jaden Springer).
Though, Hardy’s words on Tuesday night were a warning for the players beyond the remaining nine games of the 2024-25 season and beyond next season. If players look around currently and think that what they do doesn’t matter because they’ll get to play in every game anyway, Hardy wants them to know that won’t always be the case.
“That would be very shortsighted because the decisions that have to be made moving forward are much bigger than whether you get to play on Thursday,” Hardy said. “To me, that’s an excuse. You still know how you’re supposed to behave, and it’s not about the play, it’s about the behavior. That’s what bothers me.”
