The Utah Jazz will not be clinching a playoff berth in 2022-23, but this outcome certainly isn't the result of a lack of trying. After losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder Thursday evening, Will Hardy's club shut the door on any possibility of taking part in the upcoming postseason while simultaneously adding ping-pong balls into this year's draft lottery.
They would go on to lose the hard-fought bout by a final score of 114-108.
Though this outcome may indicate a rather easy win for the Thunder was had, coach Hardy believes this notion is far from the truth. During his post-game media session, he would even suggest that Thursday's contest could be described as a “microcosm” of the club's season as a whole.
“It'll separate the people who only look at numbers and the people that actually watch. On paper, this game does not look very good and on paper, the season–you know, 36-44–doesn't look very great. But anybody that's actually paid attention and watched the team play watched how they play, how they compete, the way that they've done it together, the way that they've dealt with changes and lineup changes and guys being in and out and trades at the deadline and a new coach. You know, the way that they've handled all of that and represented themselves and this organization and this community is really special,” Will Hardy said on the Jazz.
Despite missing the postseason for the first time in seven years, the Utah Jazz still managed to have themselves quite an impressive campaign.
Coming into the season, the club, considering they lost their two franchise cornerstones Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert while also parting ways with their head coach Quin Snyder during the summer, was projected to have one of the worst records in the association, with some publications such as Forbes predicting they'd have no more than 22 wins on the year.
Fast forward six months, and we find that the team will have missed out on a play-in slot in the Western Conference standings by just a handful of wins and, with two games remaining on the docket, boast a record of 36-44.
The team also saw one of its very own talents take part in the illustrious 2023 NBA All-Star Game. Lauri Marrkanen (acquired by the Jazz in the Donovan Mitchell blockbuster) put forth a career-best campaign with his new squad, boasting stellar averages of 25.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 49.9% from the field and 39.1% from distance.
So yes, from an on-paper perspective perhaps the 2022-23 season was not all that triumphant for the Utah Jazz.
However, when you take into account preseason expectations coupled with their surprise efforts and on-court production put forth by the club as a whole, as Will Hardy suggested, those who “actually paid attention and watched the team play” will know that they were not just another lottery-bound pushover.
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