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SALT LAKE CITY — In the final year of his contract and now facing a long rehabilitation after suffering a major knee injury, Joe Ingles may have played his last game with the Utah Jazz.
The timing could not have been worse for Ingles, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the first half Sunday in the team's loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The sad reality is few teams are likely to be in the market for player who turns 35 before next season and is dealing with such a significant injury.
If Ingles is indeed done with the Jazz, he leaves with a legacy that few can match in team history. Especially for essentially nothing more than a role player.
By now, after nearly eight years with the franchise, Ingles' story has been well documented. Not making the NBA until age 27, considered ancient by league standards, the Australian was picked up by the Jazz after not making the final cut with the Los Angeles Clippers.
The original line of thinking had Ingles serving more as a babysitter for fellow Aussie Dante Exum, whom the Jazz drafted as an 18-year-old with the fifth pick of the 2014 NBA draft. The oft-injured point guard, who missed the entire 2015-16 season also with an ACL tear, never matched his lofty draft selection and was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Jordan Clarkson in 2019.
Meanwhile, the unheralded Ingles flourished with the Jazz as a playmaker and 3-point shooter — not bad for a player who finally made the NBA on his last shot.
Primarily becoming a reserve his first three seasons, Ingles became a starter in 2017-18 and responded with averages of 11.5 points, 4.8 assists and 4.2 rebounds a game. His meteoric rise as a legitimate NBA player coincided with the team's ascend up the Western Conference standings.
Last season, after moving to the bench the year before to accommodate newly acquired guard Mike Conley, Ingles put up the best collective numbers of his NBA career across the board. A runner-up to Clarkson for sixth man of the year, he played an integral part in the Jazz having the best record during the regular season.
While all those statistics and the accompanying millions of dollars Ingles has earned along the way make for a Hollywood movie, they pale in comparison to measure the impact he has had on the organization and the state of Utah. Few players — not that many are even willing — can match the relationship with the community this balding, light-hearted foreigner has created.
In the era of isolated, don't-bother-me millionaire-several-times-over athletes, Ingles is one of us — a husband and father content with a cup of good coffee and hanging with his three youngsters. The only difference is the high-profile job is that splattered across our television sets about 100 times a year.
When Ingles became a free agent, unlike others who were comfortable being fawned over, he quickly re-signed with the Jazz. A whirlwind tour around the league wasn't necessary, even if it meant more cash.
The roots he and his wife, Renae, put down grew even deeper after their son Jacob was diagnosed with autism. Upon coming to grips with the situation, the pair have become community leaders in raising awareness of children and parents dealing with similar situations.
Against all likelihood, he has become a symbol of the Jazz DNA the management has often preached about over the years. Ingles shows up to work, intent on achieving the sole goal of helping the team win all the while being approachable to the average fan.
In what is almost unheard of with the current pampered player, Ingles has spoken directly to those same fans every week during the season since his rookie year. No matter the result or his individual performance the night before, he honored his commitment to spend 20 minutes with DJ and PK on The Zone Sports Network.
In self-deprecating style, Ingles said he got asked to do the radio show after Gordon Hayward declined. The truth is, I identified him early on as a candidate to connect with the team, having no idea it would last this long and be such a smash.
Here we are now, the end possibly in sight. Although let's hope there's one more chapter, no matter what, Ingles is the true definition of a Jazz man.
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