Other than endless promises of “development,” little has been achieved, and once again the season sucks.
(Francisco Djorses | Salt Lake Tribune) Jazz Bear plays with fans as the Utah Jazz take on the Cleveland Cavaliers at Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, April 2, 2024.
I am officially retiring from my membership as a Utah Jazz fan.
Other than endless promises of “development”, little has been achieved and it’s once again a terrible season. There are no playoffs, no optimistic hope that next year could be our year with a little tweaking, and no reason for me to continue to care.
Despite decades of loyalty, I am considering which NBA team I should join in the future. Your brain is telling you that you need to change, but your heart is resisting.
I was in elementary school when my team made it to the finals. I remember John Stockton coming to my fifth grade class and teaching me how to do wall sits to strengthen my legs. I was lucky enough to be able to watch a game during that time and kept the confetti that fell from the ceiling for the rest of my adult life.
I was a big fan of Andrei Kirilenko. His father had a chance to meet him when he first moved to Utah. He told me about his height and how excited he was to come to Utah. Around that time, a Sunday school teacher won tickets to a game by shaving an AK-47 into his hair. He kept his hairstyle all weekend so he could show it off to the enthusiastic 13-year-old boys in his class.
In later years, I enjoyed the Deron Williams era. I remember sitting in the ESPN Restaurant in Downtown Disney watching the Jazz play San Antonio in the Western Conference Finals. During my trip to Disneyland, I wore a jazz jersey the entire time.
In 2010, I watched a thrilling playoff game between the Jazz and Nuggets. I still remember it being the noisiest environment I have ever experienced. My wife and I, who have been sweethearts since high school, didn’t have much money, but we spent enough to attend this game.
A year or two later we met Paul Millsap at a jazz event. We love to remember how big his hands were when we shook hands. I also want to laugh at how he seemed so uninterested in meeting his 1,000 fans that day.
In the mid-2010s, we met Gordon Hayward in the SEALs and he was kind enough to take a photo with his wife. Years later, he broke our hearts so much that his wife wanted to put a banner on the side of a prominent building along Interstate 15 that read, “Gordon Never Betrayed.”
In 2019, my daughter played junior jazz. As her overzealous father, I signed her up for a junior jazz camp at the Delta Center with several jazz coaches. I was sitting in the front row of the arena watching her daughter being the only girl in the entire camp. She was never the most skilled player and would cry when she couldn’t do some of the advanced skills. Some of her jazz development coaches spent extra time with her. At the end of the day, she was able to meet Bear and tour her locker room. Her tough experience turned into a great one with some great coaches.
Recently, I got together with 10 other couples and rented a suite to watch a game. This is a great way to connect with friends, allowing those interested in the game to watch intently, while those not interested can grab a bite to eat and socialize. This has become an annual event that many of us really enjoy.
Now, it will be difficult to choose a player from the crowd. By next year, most of them will be on other teams or leave the NBA completely, but we will gain a whole new set of unforgettable players. It’s hard to build a relationship with a team when you don’t even know who’s on the roster.
He once considered pledging his allegiance to Spurs. But to be honest, considering these memories, bittersweet as it may be, I don’t want to be a Spurs fan. They’re successful, but they’re not as ingrained in my life as The Jazz. I want to be a jazz fan.
My plea to the Utah Jazz, Ryan and Ashley Smith, Danny Ainge, Justin Zanik, Coach Hardy, and the Jazz Bear is this: Please get better. Of course we want a championship, but there’s more to it than that. I want to play meaningful games in the playoffs. We want a roster full of character, not “assets” that can be traded on a whim or forgettable NBA players. we want hope.
(Photo by Brian Griffiths) Brian Griffiths
brian griffith A father of three, he has an encyclopedic knowledge of Disney princesses and “Bluey.” He once danced with a baby humpback whale. A spider monkey once stole his sandwich. He is the co-owner of Salt Lake City’s famous business Queen of Wraps.
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