What keeps Jazz fans tuning in even while the team is losing? I asked, and you answered

It feels obvious why Utah Jazz fans would have been interested in Monday night’s game — Lauri Markkanen and Jordan Clarkson were both back to playing against the Luka Doncic-led Dallas Mavericks.

But what is keeping Jazz fans watching these games night after night, knowing that the team is likely to lose?

The Jazz are 3-17 in their last 20 games, and it’s completely within the realm of possibility that they don’t win another game this season (there’s only 10 left after the Monday night loss to the Mavs).

And yet, so many people are still engaged, so many still coming to games, so many watching at home, so I took to social media to find out what it is that keeps people tuning in, and the response was massive.

A lot of Jazz fans are invested in trying to spot any kind of progress or growth from the young players on the roster — Keyonte George, Taylor Hendricks, Brice Sensabaugh, Walker Kessler and even some of the two-way players.

That investment makes a lot of sense because it’s also what the Jazz front office is invested in.

That being said, I don’t think there’s much that any of us are going to learn over the last 10 games that we don’t already know, but it does give the players more reps, which is important for future growth.

There are some fans who believe this Jazz roster could partially resemble what will be a contending team in the future, so there’s a reason to watch and see if little bits of chemistry can be built before the season ends.

There are some people who are trying to figure out more about Will Hardy’s coaching, and there are some fans who are tuning in to compare the Jazz to the what the future contenders of the Western Conference will be.

But overwhelmingly the majority of fans who are still tuning in are doing so for the simple reason that they are Jazz fans and they like basketball. I know that seems really simple, but I think it’s really important to focus on this for a minute.

The NBA is an entertainment business. Sports in general are a vehicle that can bring people together and give others a small escape from daily life.

There are hundreds of times throughout the year where the focus of what I write and what fans talk about will be about Xs and Os or the strengths and weaknesses of a particular player, areas where the team needs improvement.

There are countless times when criticism or praise is warranted. Even in a losing season, we are going to spend a lot of time focusing on draft position, possible team needs, potential future talent, possible trade packages, etc.

I think all of that is important, but it’s also really important to understand that this really is a game. This response is the one that stuck out to me the most:

For a lot of people it doesn’t really matter that the team is losing. I know that when I was growing up and obsessed with watching basketball, sure I liked watching my team win more than lose, but I was still going to just watch as much as possible, even if the outcome was predictable.

People are still showing up to games, both in the arena with their families and watching together from home, and they’re doing so because it feels good.

I have to admit that as a beat writer who is watching 82 games a year of the Jazz plus countless other NBA and college basketball games, I can get a little jaded.

I see the writing on the wall. This team is designed to lose games, rooting for wins is pointless considering there’s no postseason coming Utah’s way and the draft is in June.

So when I asked the question, ‘why are you watching,’ and did so from an honest place, it was an incredible reminder that on a Monday evening, some people just wanted to sit down and put the game on.

So, tomorrow we’ll resume our regularly scheduled programming of analysis and examining everything between the lines, but tonight, I hope that you enjoyed a competitive and fun game, Jazz fans.