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SALT LAKE CITY -- He's back! And so are two other former Jazzmen.
Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver and Ronnie Brewer have returned to the place they once called home to face their former teammates.
Korver and Boozer return for the first time since leaving the Jazz for Chicago last summer.
"Me and Kyle (Korver) and Ronnie (Brewer) have already talked about it," said Boozer. "Flying in this morning and going to the hotel instead of our houses and then coming here to the practice facility. It's already kind of weird actually."
Korver wasn't quite as nostalgic, but descriptive none the less when he simply said, "It's kind of strange."
Boozer, who wasn't always beloved by the Jazz faithful, is realistic when thinking about what type of reception he'll get inside the EnergySolutions Arena, but also isn't letting any negativity spoil his good mood.
Related:
Jazz talk about return of Boozer, Korver and Brewer
The Jazz talk about the return of former Jazzmen Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver and Ronnie Brewer Wednesday as Utah host the Chicago Bulls."I'm looking forward to it. I will probably hear some boo's, probably hear some cheers," Boozer said. "Most arena's we go into we hear some boo's but I'm looking forward to it."
Will Boozer be able to tell the difference between 'boo's' and Booz?
"It's all BOOZ to me. I'm looking forward to it. It is going to be a fun night."
Jazz point guard Deron Williams seems to know his fans as well as Boozer does. Williams, who isn't shy to tell it how it is said, "He is going to get booed but it will sound like 'Booz'! I don't know I'm sure there will be some mixed reaction."
While we are all expecting boo's for Booz, Korver, on the other hand, will probably get a lot of cheers, especially from the female fan base in the crowd.
"How come every time you ask me a question it has to do with girls? Golf or girls," said Korver, jokingly irritated by the line of questioning. "You probably have asked me three questions about basketball in the three years I was here."
My reply to that is simple. This is Kyle 'McDreamy' we're talking about here.
"Unbelievable," said Korver with a wry smile on his face.
Andrei Kirilenko, a Russian heartthrob in his own right, expects his former teammate to get a lot of cheers from the females on Wednesday night despite the different colors of his uniform.
Said Kirilenko without any hesitation, "That's because he's cute!"
E-mail: rzundel@ksl.com
