Kyle Anderson casts a subtle shadow over the rocking jazz
For most of his NBA career, Kyle Anderson played for the contender.
The 30th overall pick out of UCLA in 2014 who was celebrated for his rebounding, “Slo Mo” style of play without a boundary position, Anderson made the postseason in eight of his first 11 NBA seasons, with a ninth run in ’12 all but guaranteed after signing with the Minnesota Timberwolves. his contract was bought out by the Memphis Grizzlies.
And yet, for about half the season, Anderson played on a team that was definitely not a contender. No, during his run with Utah Jazzthe team actually went out of their way not to get a V at the end of the contest, leading to players like Anderson getting limited rounds and canceling to avoid any upset wins.
Speaking about what it was like playing for the Jazz with reporters on Tuesday, Anderson noted that while he likes everyone in Utah, he wasn’t a big fan of their mentality when they lost, because he prefers to go all out in pursuit of victory.
“Honestly, I don’t even want to get into it. I had a lot of fun in the organization, and everyone in the organization was great,” Anderson said. “Obviously, you know, going games without a win gets a little awkward and tough. I personally didn’t enjoy it, but, you know, the staff, the players, I love the players. The staff is really cool, the people in the organization are great. I have nothing bad to say about it.”
While the Jazz have been out of the playoff picture for years, since trading Rudy Gobert and then Donovan Mitchell after deciding the pairing had reached its ceiling, Utah doesn’t really have the best homegrown players to show for its efforts, as the team has failed to land a top-3 pick in the last decade.
Fortunately, they hit a home run with the Lauri Markkanen trade and pushed more chips into the middle of the standings by acquiring Jaren Jackson Jr. before the deadline, so who knows? Maybe he’ll be back to playing the basketball Anderson loves as early as next season.
2026-03-04 01:30:00
