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SALT LAKE CITY — Walker Kessler didn't think he got it.
Early in the third quarter, Phoenix's Devin Booker raced past Kessler to the rim. Booker went to lay it up but — to just about everyone's surprise — Utah's rookie center leaped up and swatted it away.
Kessler waited a half beat, almost expecting a goaltending call to come, and then sprinted back down the court the other way thinking he may have gotten away with one. That was one of Kessler's seven blocks in Utah's loss to Phoenix on Monday, but afterward, he was still curious if it was legit.
"Did I goaltend that Devin Booker one or no?" he asked the media after the game. "I was curious, because I can't believe I got to that one."
So the room went to the film. Laptops plopped onto the podium in front of Kessler and he examined the play.
"Oh, I got that!" he exclaimed loudly. "Geez. That's crazy!"
Turns out, the rookie is even surprising himself.
Kessler has accomplished something rare this season: He's earned the respect of the league on the defensive end. You see that as some teams completely avoid going into the paint against him (and Phoenix might join those ranks after so many of their rim challenges were turned away).
Kessler said he's heard variations of "You're big!" "You're quick!" and "I can't believe you got up like that!" from various stunned opponents after he got some of the more surprising blocks.
"A lot of times they think they got an open layup or something and I can get to it," he said. "So they're definitely a little caught off guard by it, for sure."
It's not only his opponents. Sometimes, it's Kessler himself, or even his head coach.
"Three of the seven blocks were just kind of crazy," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "Like one was like a floater from 11 feet that he got, which I don't really know what to say about that other than that's awesome."
Hardy also mentioned the one on Deandre Ayton, when the Phoenix center tried to spin and shoot a hook shot over Kessler. Ayton probably hasn't had many people send that type of shot back his way.
And as his reputation has grown, it's led to less calls going against him.
Early in the season, Kessler was often plagued by foul trouble due to getting a pretty tough whistle. Now? It seems about every 50-50 call is going his way.
"Like all of the best defenders in the NBA, part of it is they have a reputation," Hardy said. "It's not that they don't ever foul, but they're known as a great defender, and so those moments where it's a coin toss, they get the benefit of the doubt more often."
Kessler has noticed that, too.
"Obviously, it's a learning curve for me, but I feel like the refs kind of know that's what I do. So they're definitely letting me go get some," Kessler said.
Even some that he didn't — at least originally — think he got to.
