When taking a look at the NBA standings thus far this season, a lot of people are going to do a double-take when checking out the Western Conference. The Utah Jazz, who made their intentions clear this offseason when they traded away Royce O’Neale, Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell and Bojan Bogdanovic, is currently sitting in first place.
There likely isn’t a single person in the world who believed the Jazz would be in first place of anything this season except maybe for the highest lottery odds. Danny Ainge tore things down this offseason and in a shocking turn of events, seemingly built them up at the same time.
It hasn’t been a cupcake schedule that has aided Utah, either. They are 9-3 and six of those wins have come against teams that were either in the playoff field or NBA Play-In Tournament last season. It is a truly remarkable start, but it doesn’t sound like the players are too surprised at how things have turned out thus far.
Mike Conley Jr., one of the last remaining veterans from the roster of previous years, recently spoke to The Athletic about how the season has transpired thus far and how he and the Jazz even got to this point. While Conley wanted to contend for championships, which seemed unlikely to occur with the Jazz now, he was bought in once he met new head coach Will Hardy and heard the plan he was putting in place.
“This was tough at first because I’m 35 and I’m so used to having championship aspirations. I came to the Jazz to play for championships. So, I was wondering what would end up happening. But once we got a new coach (Will Hardy) in here and he started laying things out, I knew that I wanted to be here. We are building and developing,” Conley said. “I wanted to put my ego aside and focus on the guys. I’ve loved every second of being on this team, and we play a brand of basketball here that we haven’t played in a while.”
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Mike Conley, Utah Jazz & LA Clippers Updates
One of those championship-caliber teams that Conley thought he would be heading to was the LA Clippers. During the offseason, a person that Conley trusts reached out to him and let him know that a move to join the Clippers could be real.
It ended up not coming to fruition as Los Angeles moved to sign John Wall instead. That was just part of what was a tumultuous and uneasy offseason for Conely and his family as it was difficult to get answers to the questions that they had.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Mike Conley, Utah Jazz & LA Clippers Updates
They may be public, recognizable figures, but professional athletes still face similar challenges to everyone else. For example, Conley and his wife Mary had to figure out which school district their children would be enrolled in and be prepared to move in an instant if his job required a transfer elsewhere.
Everything happens for a reason and whatever led to Conley remaining in Utah, has turned out to be for the best. He is an excellent fit on this roster as the grizzled veteran helping mold his young teammates and teaching them what it takes to be a professional basketball player.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Mike Conley, Utah Jazz & LA Clippers Updates
This is a roster full of players with something to prove as they spent weeks listening to the media talk poorly about them and the outlook for their season. That is something Conley and his teammates take pride in proving wrong. It is anyone’s guess how long this will last, but for now, Conley and the Jazz are riding the wave.
