Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Will Hardy is committed to the Utah Jazz's long-term rebuild strategy.
- Despite a 17-win season, Hardy remains highly regarded within the NBA community.
- Jazz front office and Hardy aim to eventually win a championship together.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy was presented with a hypothetical situation the day after his third season in Utah came to a close.
What if a more playoff-ready team came calling this offseason — would he listen?
"That's a crazy scenario," he said. "I don't see a world where that would happen."
Coming off a 17-win season, that is an understandable response, but it's not quite as far-fetched as he makes it sound. Despite the Jazz's struggles, Hardy remains well regarded around the league. Coaches praise his approach, players speak highly of him, and he's shown he can piece together competitive stretches — when allowed.
Regardless, that didn't address the heart of the question. The Jazz are likely years away from truly competing. Does he want to continue a long rebuild, or would it be better to skip town now?
"I'm all-in, man," Hardy said. "I'm not going anywhere."
Hardy has taken the arrows — he has an 85-161 record in his first three years —and wants to be the one to lead the team out on the other side. For better or worse, he intends to see this thing through to the end.
"I'm committed here. I'm under contract here," Hardy said. "I told Ryan (Smith) and Danny (Ainge) and Justin (Zanik) that I want to be here for as long as I can."
The front office shares that sentiment.
"If I had a vote, I honestly would cast my vote for Coach of the Year for Will Hardy," Zanik said.
That might sound like hyperbole, but the organization has been genuinely impressed with how he's handled the hand he's been dealt. He got players to buy into a team concept and individual development — even when they knew wins would be few and far between.
"He got them to play hard and to be invested for the season, no matter what the result was," Zanik said. "He got them to believe in their own development and that they could take ownership in that. … He's been great."
And that type of confidence from the front office can be hard to find in today's NBA.
Taylor Jenkins was fired by Memphis despite being in a playoff position. Denver let go of Michael Malone less than two years after winning the NBA title. Phoenix is about to have four coaches in four seasons.
Then there are the coaches who serve as sacrificial lambs, asked to lose games for the sake of a tank job, only to be fired later.
"I've always complained, for coach's sake, that that goes on your record," Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. "I had three years of that and that stays with your record. So when they fire you and you go to the other team, I think those should transfer to the team that fired you. You shouldn't get that record. You took a hit for them!"
Hardy, though, is fine taking such a hit. To him, it's just part of the deal.
"I don't think it's fair for us to say, 'Oh, this shouldn't be on me.' This is the job, this is the responsibility. This is what you sign up for —the good, the bad and the in-between," Hardy said. "Sure, the losses go on my record, but the opinions that matter to me are the people that are in our building, our organization. They know what we do every day.
"Yeah, when you lose, it follows you, but when you win, that follows you also."
Rivers oversaw a tanking job in Boston; he also won a title.
Hardy wants to do the same thing in Utah.
"The goal for me is to put a banner at Delta Center," Hardy said. "I'm putting my roots here in Utah. … In some ways, my conviction has never been stronger in terms of wanting to execute our long-term vision and ultimately win a championship."
