This Deron Williams trade left me even more shell shocked than Sloan's retirement. I spent the day avoiding thinking about it, trying alternatively to convince myself of and talk myself out of the notion that it was a prank, and listening to break up music. I spoke to a few friends about it and they essentially said the same thing. This is what sports is all about. You're being tested. They weren't going to win a championship anyway. And, the most common refrain, you have to stay loyal to the team.
At the start of this season things were exciting for us Jazz fans. A lot of the team had left during trades and free agency, and we had signed a lot of new players. This season was wide open. We were probably going to be worse than we had been, but maybe we would be as good, and there was a slim chance we would be better. Things started well. Then we hit a wall. Our team slumped. And slumped and slumped. Although I made excuses for a while, it became apparent to me that this team was just no good. At least we still had Jerry Sloan and Deron Williams, though. Then Sloan quit. This was distressing, but it had to come. At some point, the guy was just going to give out. And it just happened this year.
But trading Williams was terrible, terrible news. The Utah Jazz were a team with one amazing player, a top ten player who was arguably the best at his position -- something that is very, very hard to come by -- and a bunch of others below league replacement. That wasn't fated, however. The mediocre cast that surrounded Williams was the product of a number of bad decisions made by our General Manager Kevin O'Connor. While he probably could never save Boozer, he could have tried to trade him two years ago when it became obvious he was leaving in free agency. He could have avoided giving away Eric Manor and Ronnie Brewer, or if he had to give them away, he could have tried to pair them with Kirilenko's bloated contract, so as to free up some cap space. He could have made an effort to keep Korver and Matthews, but he didn't. He didn't do any of those things. And when things blew up, he tried to rebuild on the fly. And when that failed, Williams and Sloan both fell on the sword for him.
There is now very little that connects the Utah Jazz as it's currently constituted with the team I rooted for last year, or as a child. The only major connecting element to what came before and what currently exists are the General Manager and the Owner (even here, the beloved Larry H. Miller is gone). Everything has changed. The coaching staff is different. The players are different. Even the uniforms and team logo are different. Kevin O'Connor and Greg Miller are the only connecting elements. One of them can't do his job. The other called Deron Williams after the story had already leaked to ESPN to inform him that he wouldn't be playing for the team any more. He didn't ask for his input. He didn't give him any warning. He just told him to pack his stuff. That phone call lasted 30 seconds. I realize I'm not privy to what went on behind closed doors and that Williams very well might have left anyway. But none of that excuses that kind of behavior. That is cold blooded and cruel. Worse than what LeBron did to Cleveland.
Rooting for the Jazz boils down to rooting for Miller and O'Connor, as they are the only two Jazzmen (with minor exceptions) who have any kind of established identities as Jazzmen. One is incompetent at his job. The other ruthless, or, best case scenario, an unfeeling buffoon. Why should I root for them? Why should I root for this team?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
As stated above, because being a fan is not about players and coaches. It is a multidimensional space, consisting of players and coaches, but also of memories, emotions, and perceptions. To cheer for the Jazz is to embrace a part of yourself, a part of your memories and upbringing. Although it may suck, there is certainly something more deeply satisfying about loving a team through horrible management and a dearth of players than simply tuning in once they are good. If we got to choose to like teams only because of who played on them or who coached them, we would constantly love the teams like the Lakers and Heat. Each year our lonely adoration would wander the country, looking for acceptance from the team we considered most favorable that season, and never fitting in anywhere. As fans, we are the last part of the NBA that remains able or willing to live in small markets, to support non-superstar teams, and to love organizations through thick and thin. We do it because this is what creates the meaning we value so much when they do finally win and achieve true greatness.
ReplyDelete