From a Jazz Fan

As a Utah Jazz fan, I’ve seen some very talented Utah rosters that couldn’t quite get over the hump.  There always was, and always will be an unstoppable force, or immovable object impeding our progress.  The NBA is very much a sport of dynasties, and whether it be the Bulls, Lakers, Spurs, Cavs, Heat, or Warriors, I can accept that talent will flock to talent, and (money willing) the teams that are created from them will get in the way.  I am a realist in that regard.  I am also willing to accept that Utah is a bad market for Pro-Basketball, no one just comes to the Jazz because it’s their choice to.  We have no “legacy of champions” that Hayward spoke of in his Tribune article.  

What I had hoped for in my heart of hearts, was that the people of Utah and the Jazz organization maybe had instilled a sense of loyalty, a sense of thankfulness for the people, and teammates, who developed the player.  But I was foolish.  The past was doomed to repeat itself, and just as with Deron Williams, Kyle Korver, AK-47, and the rest, Hayward was bound to take his talents to a more marketable city.  We all saw how the NBA handled Williams, Korver, and the old jazz gang. Only a few remain, and 2 of them ended up on a Cavs team with a bench that let them down over and over again.  

And we come to the brunt of why I’m writing.  Hayward left his loyalties at the door, had his agents deny leaked reports of going to Boston, and he wrote an article which in the end hurt more than the leaked reports.  He left an improving Jazz roster to a Celtics team that has to dump quite a few contracts to even make space for him.  Danny Ainge loves his draft picks, but few of them have developed into elite players.  Then there’s the reasoning behind it: the elusive chase for a Championship.  Next year, Boston will still have to compete against Lebron and the Cavs Crew. Is Hayward enough to lead them past the Cavs?  I can’t foresee a positive outcome.  A berth in the ECFs and a 5 or 6 game series loss.  Now if Lebron leaves the year after that? There’s a possible Finals appearance in the works, assuming their young players develop, the Wizards don’t get any better, and the Bucks don’t add any more talent.  So let’s play this scenario out, if Boston makes the Finals in Haywards 2nd year, it will also be the year that Lebron James inevitably recruits Paul George to the Lakers, Houston will be fluid in their 2 point-guard scheme, and the Juggernaut that is the Warriors will still sit atop the West, better than them all.  

Finals appearances are impressive, but just as we witnessed with Lebron, making the Finals in no way guarantees rings.  If Hayward feels like that’s good enough for him (which we all know it won’t be) then good job in picking Boston.  Let me be clear, him staying with the Jazz is by no means better in the way of games won and playoff success.  What I see in the Jazz is a team of players who were growing up together and gradually getting better every year.  The thought of bringing a team to playoff success with a chance for a healthier, developing roster the next year, just to leave for a team that’s only success will come for the fact that the East will be barren of all sense of competition, is mind boggling.  

In conclusion, I’m upset.  The Jazz can recover and do reasonably well in the talent-ridden West, and the Celtics will probably be good in the diluted East.  The Jazz will lose in the 1st Round of the Playoffs, while the Celtics find out that Lebron is still as good as ever.  Jazz fans will burn their Hayward jerseys, and stock up on Gobert merch.  I want to be mad at Hayward, but I’m mostly mad at myself, for thinking that the market for the Jazz could be changed.  I wish the best to Gordon Hayward, and if by some miracle he can capture his Championship in Boston, then more power to him.  In the meantime, I may do some soul searching in the way of fandom.  

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