How watchable will the Utah Jazz be this season? Also, Jazz fans aren’t alone in their hatred for yellow and black
Prior to last season, no one really knew what to think of the Utah Jazz.
A collection of role-playing veterans, unproven rookies and underdeveloped potential, the Jazz appeared to be quite an odd group of players.
Last year’s team had been compiled not for its ability to compete on the hardwood, but rather for its value on the trade market.
At least that is what ESPN’s Zach Lowe, who ranked the Jazz the least watchable team in the league ahead of the 2022-23 season, thought.
Fast-forward a year and Lowe has a more favorable opinion of the Jazz, albeit only slightly.
On Tuesday, ESPN released Lowe’s annual NBA League Pass Rankings — a yearly series in which Lowe assesses each team’s “watchability and fun” — and the Jazz are no longer ranked last in the league.
No, entering the 2023-24 season, Utah comes in at No. 25, ahead of the Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons, Toronto Raptors, Portland Trail Blazers and Chicago Bulls.
Why so low, again? Lowe offered three reasons.
Who plays point guard for the Utah Jazz?
Lowe still has real concerns about the Jazz’s roster composition, although he did note that he has learned (at least a little) from doubting Utah a season ago.
“This year’s team looks similarly disjointed,” Lowe writes. “There is no traditional point guard. (Lauri) Markkanen is starting again, as a gigantic ‘small forward.’ John Collins, rescued from ‘stand and watch Trae Young’ prison, will again start next to a rim-rolling center — Walker Kessler — who does the thing Collins does best.”
Lowe did express a belief in Jazz head coach Will Hardy and his ability to turn the Jazz into a “coherent team,” but noted that it will take an All-NBA jump by Markkanen — which would require improved playmaking — and a near All-Star leap by Kessler for the Jazz to rise out of a “medium-term trajectory.”
Just say no to black and yellow
Lowe is not a fan of the Jazz’s yellow and black uniforms (and yes, uniforms play into his watchability rankings).
At all.
No, he wants the Jazz to return to their New Orleans/Mardi Gras roots with purple, green and yellow being the standard for their uniforms.
“Stick to that please,” he writes.
The broadcast team a little too in support?
Lowe’s last issue with the Jazz — when it comes to watching them on NBA League Pass — is the broadcast team of Craig Bolerjack, Thurl Bailey, Alema Harrington, Holly Rowe, Mike Smith, David Locke and Ron Boone.
Simply put, the senior NBA writer believes that that group leans a little bit too far toward the homer side of things, so to speak.
“The broadcast crew can get propaganda-y,” Lowe writes. “I’ll never forget the crew’s high-pitched rejoicing as Rudy Gay strode on to the floor for his debut in 2021-22, as if the Jazz were getting prime Manu Ginobili off the bench.”
