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SALT LAKE CITY — Walker Kessler wishes he could say he was calm and collected before his first NBA game.
But that, he admits, would be a lie.
"I was nervous," the 7-foot-1 Jazz rookie center said. "I was super nervous."
He didn't look it.
Kessler went toe-to-toe with arguably the league's best player in Nikola Jokic and finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds — and, more importantly, a win as the Jazz rolled to a surprising 123-102 victory over the Nuggets.
The rookie went 5-of-5 from the field, which included an impressive off-hand reverse layup around the league's reigning MVP, and added an assist for good measure.
"My whole life, I've been dreaming of this moment," Kessler said. "A lot of emotions. My mom was in the stands, so that was really cool. Probably will have to come to more games now — gonna have to make her. A lot of feelings and emotions, but I mean, overall, just a lot of joy."
There was one negative thing that stuck with him, though: He went 2-of-6 from the free-throw line.
"He's such a great kid," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "He apologized at the end of the game for his free throws. I was like, 'Dude, don't worry about it.'"
"I didn't apologize," Kessler said in a boisterous and playful manner when questioned about the exchange. "I just made a statement: 'Coach, I gotta hit more free throws.' Does that sound like an apology?"
When the collected media answered in the affirmative, Kessler deadpanned: "There goes the media twisting words."
And then he grew serious.
"Coach is one of the most supportive coaches I've played for; he's a player's coach," Kessler said. "He's such an intellectual — helping me and teaching me about the game. And for a coach to be like that and not get overly upset with his players, you can't ask for a better coach."
It was a special night for that coach, too. Like Kessler, Hardy came into Wednesday's game with some added nerves. He had plenty of family in town to help him commemorate his first NBA game as a head coach; family, he said, that he wished he did a better job spending time with on the eve of the game.
His mind, understandably, was preoccupied. It didn't stop racing during the game, either.
"Your brain's going 1,000 miles an hour, and you want everything to go great," he said. "But again, that's where I feel really lucky to have a group that does have some NBA experience."
He mentioned players like Mike Conley, Jordan Clarkson, Lauri Markkanen, Kelly Olynyk, Jarred Vanderbilt, Rudy Gay, and Malik Beasley as experienced players that he was able to lean on during prep and during the actual game.
"Those guys have been a great resource for me," he said. "I've had a lot of great conversations with all of them at practice, away from practice, and then even during the game. I'm trying to understand what they're seeing on the floor so that we can all get on the same page."
They found the same page against the Nuggets.
"We were just so happy for him," Conley said. "He deserves that. He's worked really hard to be here and has given a lot of guys a lot of confidence to go out there and just play the right way and play hard."
Hardy's final thoughts on winning the game he's coached in the NBA?
"Pretty cool. Pretty cool."
