How the mental expectations for Walker Kessler have changed
LAIE, Hawaii — Walker Kessler finds comfort in not being a rookie anymore.
He won’t spend the entirety of the season learning about 15 different teammates, their personalities, their tendencies, their likes, dislikes and how they approach the game.
“You automatically have more confidence,” Kessler said. “Because there’s that sense of comfortability going into the year and a sense of, OK, I’ve done this before. I’ve played with these guys before, I know what they like, they know what I like.”
That doesn’t describe the whole Utah Jazz team. There are a few newcomers and Kessler will still need to build chemistry with them, but the number of new teammates is significantly smaller this year. And, he got a little bit of a boost in learning how to play with new teammates after joining Team USA for the summer.
There’s comfort in familiarity and there’s confidence with an 82-game season and offseason World Cup competition already under his belt.
Kessler was feeling pretty good heading into his second training camp, knowing what to expect and how things would run. That is, until training camp started.
When the Jazz are running through their sets and schemes at practices, Kessler is expected to be a part of the first group of five players on the court. The rookies and the players who aren’t as familiar with the system or need more time will be in the second or third group called onto the court.
There’s pride and value and responsibility that comes with being in that first group. But there’s also an expectation that the player will be able to quickly pick up on terminology, philosophy, the how and why of a play, the setup and speed required from each player and all of the other intricacies of what is being taught.
Gone are the days that Kessler was able to wait in the second or third group, watching those ahead of him before needing to replicate things.
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“Being part of the first group and understanding that while I’m still young, and obviously I’ve got a lot to learn, I’m now in the role of being on the court first,” Kessler said. “I’m not getting to watch the other guys first. Say I’m in the third group, well then I just watched the same play get run three times. But now it’s about being quick and on top of things. Which I like, I enjoy the challenge.”
Kessler is quick to point out that he’s still human and he’s going to make mistakes, and there were mistakes made throughout the first two days of training camp. But Kessler is learning that mistakes that are made, but understood, are valuable and there’s an allowance for that in these early days. The mistakes made in games that matter, without an understanding of what was done wrong and how it differs from the correct action, are the mistakes that he can’t afford this year.
“There’s a mental expectation to really locking in,” Kessler said. “Trying your best to stay mentally ready at all times.”
It’s not that Kessler thought training camp or his second year in the NBA was going to be a breeze. In fact, Kessler was well prepared for things to be even more intense and for him to have more responsibility this season. But this week, Kessler is learning that every year of his NBA career is going to require something different of him.
The complexities of responsibility, roles on the team and mental preparation change for players every year. So what does the 2023-24 season look like for 22-year-old Walker Kessler?
Well, it starts with proving that he can be reliable, becoming a more mentally prepared player, learning the Jazz system on an even deeper level, being accountable as one of the leaders of this Jazz team and continuing to earn the trust of his teammates.
