BY: DONOVAN HOLDEN
Some have described the sport of basketball and the way that it is played as smooth Jazz, and the Utah Jazz are the epitome of basketball so far in the 2020-2021 NBA season. However this Jazz team can be described more accurately than just “smooth”. They are not only on an 11-game win streak and hold the number one seed in the Western Conference, but they also have the best record in the entire NBA (15-4). Not to mention they are 5th in the league in offensive rating (115.4), 3rd in the league in defensive rating (106.9), and have the best net rating (+8.5) throughout the entire league.
After all the adversity and rumors centered around this team a season ago, it sounded like this roster was going to be blown up entirely, and could be potentially put through a re-build. On March 11th, 2020 the NBA suspended their season indefinitely after Rudy Gobert tested positive for Covid-19 just minutes before the Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder were supposed to tip off. Not too long after this, their leader and young star Donovan Mitchell also tested positive and players on the team including Mitchell became upset with Gobert. They said he was acting careless in the locker room, touching other players and their belongings. Mitchell came out and said he was “extremely frustrated” with Gobert and the entire Covid-19 situation. The team put their differences aside and played with one another in the NBA Bubble, but took a first round exit in game 7 at the hands of the Denver Nuggets.
After the playoffs in the bubble had come to an end the critics got to work on the Jazz. The narrative for the Jazz around the NBA world was that Mitchell and Gobert either could not co-exist, and even if they could this duo was not enough to compete with the juggernauts atop the Western Conference. Well, the Utah Jazz doubled down on their roster, and right before the NBA restart they signed Gobert to a 5-year, $205 million contract extension, making him the center with the biggest contract in league history.
From then on they have not looked back, and the two-time Defensive Player of the Year, and one of the league’s brightest young stars Donovan Mitchell have been playing with one another just fine. Currently Gobert is leading the league in both total rebounds (267) and overall defensive rating (98.8), also averaging 2.7 blocks per game. While Mitchell is posting 23.4 points per game(PPG) and 5 assists per game on 43% shooting. This team’s biggest names are far from the only reasons for their success early in this season. The Jazz also have point guard/shooting guard Jordan Clarkson who has been an absolute virtuoso for them off the bench this season. Clarkson is clearly an early pick for The 6th Man of the Year award, and is quietly having his best season in his 7th year in the league, averaging 17.9 PPG on 47% shooting and 38% shooting from behind the 3-point line, Clarkson is not your ordinary bench player. The Jazz and their impressive roster does not stop there, the Jazz shoot over 40 3-point shots per game, and sharp shooters Joe Ingles and Bojan Bogdanović can be credited for a lot of these shots that hit the bottom of the net.
Even NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal does not seem like he has bought in on what the Utah Jazz are doing this season. Amidst the beginning of Utah’s 11-game win streak, Shaq challenged Mitchell to be even better than he is playing right now during a post game interview on national television.
Coach Quin Snyder and the entire Utah Jazz organization were overlooked going into this season, and are still not getting the attention/credit that they deserve. They truly are one of the most complete teams across the entire league, and are red hot over the last month or so, they have elite shooting, a veteran point guard with years of experience (Mike Conley), a play-making superstar, and a real deal defensive anchor. The Jazz are the alpha male of the NBA currently, but probably have bigger aspirations this season, an NBA Championship is what this undervalued group wants.