SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz had their last practice on Tuesday before playing the Denver Nuggets in their first regular season game. The game is at 7 p.m. in the newly renovated arena. After practice, we had the chance to talk to Thabo Sefolosha, the injured Dante Exum, head coach Quin Snyder, and general manager Dennis Lindsey.

Dante Exum speaks

A small group of writers had the chance to catch up with Dante Exum after practice on Tuesday, talking about his separated shoulder, how he came to decide to get surgery, and more. Rather than deciding for you what's important, I figured I'd just transcribe the whole interview for you. Questions are in bold, Exum's answers are in normal text.

In terms of where your career goes, are you uneasy about it?

I'm confident with the decision I made, that's why we took a lot of time to make the right decision for me. For this year, for long term. And that stuff rolls around, we'll deal with that. For right now, it's about getting better after surgery, and from there, rehab and getting stronger.

What were your options on what you could do besides surgery?

I had a non-surgical option, but obviously, the bone would still be sticking out. We kind of evaluated that and made the right choice for me at this time in my career.

How many doctors did you see?

I saw three doctors and spoke to about six or seven. I think it was just an important decision to make, and that's why we took the time to make sure it was the right thing. It was just about gathering as much information as possible and being comfortable with that decision.

You spent a lot of time, 10 days, to mull it over. How much of that time was seeking out medical opinions, and how much of it was having the information and deciding which option to go with?

I made the decision once we had all of the information. I had to fly to two places to see doctors, and it just took time. And then talking it over with my family, my agent, and the Jazz as well. They were super supportive of what I wanted to do and what path I wanted to take.

What's your understanding of the rehab process?

My understanding is that I'm going to be in a sling for a while, and then after that, it's about getting that range of motion and strength back. I think that's the most important thing, and just making sure the shoulder is stable.

Are you expecting to miss the season?

Right now, we're not looking at that. We're just focusing on the rehab and seeing where it takes us. We can't really put a timeline on it at the moment.

Is this as difficult of a decision as you've had to make in your life?

Um, yeah. It was definitely tough. Just because we had the non-surgical option, It seemed a good option at first, but as we kind of evaluated it more, it didn't seem right.

Take us back to the locker room when you realized ...

It was tough. Even just walking back there, I was frustrated. Everything was going through my head. Everybody was just speechless, didn't know what to say. A lot of people within the Jazz organization know how hard I worked to get to where I was, and to get injured like that and the way it took place kind of just sucked.

Have you talked to T.J. Warren at all?

Yeah, he sent me out a message just to wish me the best, and I sent one back appreciative.

Have you looked at the play again? Could it have been prevented in any way?

He was just playing basketball. He was just trying to make a play to try and win. You can't fault him for that.

Did you know the seriousness of it right away?

Yeah, yeah I did. Once I fell on the floor, it definitely hurt, but I felt my shoulder... I just knew straightaway, and that's why I just ran to the locker room, just to kind of get out of there.

In terms of your teammates and there support, is there something that has stood out to you?

Everyone's been great. It's that same thing, no one really knows what to say. Everyone's just speechless. AB has definitely been really good, just from what he's been through. I know it's a bit different, but being injured with the shoulder too. I definitely sought a bit of advice when I was gathering information from him.

Do you know how soon you'll be able to start rehab after you have the surgery?

I think after surgery, rehab starts straightaway. Whatever I can do, I know I'm going to be in a sling to let it heal and set, but if it's a stress ball in my hand, trying to keep that strength, and just not get a dead arm over that period of time. It's going to start from day one.

Are you in pain right now?

No, I'm not in much pain. Just kind of that overhead motion and reaching up is kind of a bit tough.

Will this impact your babysitting abilities at all?

I will not be babysitting for Joe unless he pays me. No, I stayed with Joe. Joe was actually really good. Joe and Renae were really good for me. They took me in for the two days while my dad was flying in, and I got to know the kids a bit more, and they're wild.

In this process, did the Jazz say, "don't worry about your contract situation, do what's best for you?" Does that put you at ease a little bit?

Yeah, Dennis (Lindsay) has been great. Dennis, Justin, and David have all been super great and super understanding of the situation. They told me "do what's best for you in the long term, everything will take care of itself. People know how hard you've worked and the ability that you have." It didn't really play or factor in, the contract stuff. I just want to play basketball, and as long as I'm able to do that, I'll be fine.

We've seen you at practice the last couple of days. How have you been participating?

I've been doing some pre-op rehab, or pre-hab, I guess you would say. Just trying to strengthen it, get my posture right. Once I go into surgery, obviously I'm going to lose a bit of strength, hopefully, some of that strength stays on.

Is there anything from the injury two years ago that helps you get through this, mentally?

It's tough, they're both completely different injuries. But just the mental aspect of having to sit through practice, and I'm in the weight room doing my stuff while they're out there playing. Obviously, tomorrow's going to be tough, the opener. But once I get past that little hump, I'll be fine.

Dennis Lindsey on Exum

Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey also had something to say about Exum's return.

"He finally was totally healthy, had enough experiences this summer. He and Baron Davis just balled out, if you will, in L.A," Lindsey said. "You just saw him growing like you'd see an infant child growing by the minute."

"He made a very good choice. We had second, third, fourth, fifth opinions. I think he came out with the best possible decision in my personal opinion."

Lindsey declined to talk about Exum's contract situation (Exum will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season), but said that the Jazz likely won't look at acquiring a replacement backup point guard in Exum's absence.

"Every single wing we have is a good ballhandler and decision maker. That's by design," Lindsey noted. "They'll take some of that responsibility."

On Alec Burks, being a wing

The Jazz weren't really planning on Alec Burks being a major part of their rotation with a healthy guard unit of Ricky Rubio, Rodney Hood, Exum, and Donovan Mitchell all ahead of him. But with Exum out, Burks could play a bigger role.

But I don't think that will be at the point guard position.

"Alec's a wing. We played Alec some at the point in an emergency three years ago," Snyder said. "So, our team is very different now."

Snyder complimented Burks' preseason play, and his work to get back and ready to take on some more minutes in case of injury. But it seems like the point guard minutes will belong to Mitchell or Raul Neto (Neto, by the way, was a partial participant in practice Tuesday, but seems likely to play on Wednesday).

Somewhat relatedly, Lindsey told another story about how the Jazz expected Burks to be healthy last season.

"Quin and I were talking, we thought Alec Burks was going to be healthy last year. So we had added Joe Johnson at the wing, and one of our first conversations, and trying to be very transparent, was with Joe Ingles where we told him that he'd be the fifth wing," Lindsey said. "He ended up being the third wing really quick, and then starting, and then we gave him a very significant contract because he showed he could handle that."

On waiving Joel Bolomboy

Jazz forward-center Joel Bolomboy was waived yesterday to get the Jazz under the NBA-mandated roster limits. Lindsey talked about the difficulty of the decision Tuesday.

"It was a hard day for me yesterday. It's a difficult deal when you're a second round pick. I told Joel, Joel's agent, and even Randy Rahe, sometimes timing is everything in this league and in life," Lindsay said. "If he had joined this team three years ago, when we were a young developing team ... we're not that, at least not that for right now."

"There's a freshness and an energy and, I say this in a positive way, a naivete about him. I told him yesterday he's a much better player than he was a year ago," he continued. "We're paid to make tough decisions and that was one of them, on a personal and professional level."

The good news: it appears Bolomboy has interest in the league.

While it's probably unlikely someone makes a waiver claim on Bolomboy (and picks up his $1.3 million guaranteed contract), it sounds probable that Bolomboy will get a second NBA chance rather soon.

New Jazz youth program

The Jazz announced something for their younger fans Tuesday: a new "Jazz Kids Club."

There's a free option and a paid option for fans to be in the club. The free program (called "Rookie") applicants get a monthly newsletter, a Jazz team photo, a birthday card and entry into a monthly prize pack drawing. The paid "All-Star" program costs $40 and includes the above, as well as a Kids Club T-shirt, two tickets to both a Jazz and Salt Lake City Stars game for the 2017-18 season, access to Kids Club events and more.

The program is open to kids 15 and under. Fans can sign up at JazzKidsClub.com or outside of portal BB at the arena during games.

Related topics