'A big part of my life': Quin Snyder reflects on time with Jazz ahead of Tuesday's game

ATLANTA — Jordan Clarkson recalled the first message Quin Snyder told him when he got to the Jazz via a trade in December 2019.

"JC, let it fly," Clarkson recalled Tuesday morning. "He let us be ourselves and have fun."

Clarkson is the only remaining player left in Utah that Snyder coached during his eight-year run, which made Tuesday's game less of a reunion and more of a time for reflection.

"There are so many ways that time impacted me and my family," Snyder said. "Fond probably understates it, as far as your memories that are there."

By the end of his tenure, it was clear change was needed — and needed just about everywhere. The team had run its course, and championship aspiration had turned to a sour locker room. It's no surprise then that Snyder wanted to get away from the game.

"I think for me more than anything, that rejuvenation was being able to spend time with my family, driving kids to school, and those types of things that you're not really involved with, for obvious reasons," he said. "It was a good period for me."

He said the time also allowed him to reflect on his coaching run with the Jazz and how he could get better.

"A significant amount of things, really on both sides of the ball," Snyder said. "You want to establish a style of play that fits your personnel, and that's a process."

A process he wanted back in on.

Snyder didn't last a full season away from coaching before the coaching itch took him away from vacation and brought him back to the sideline. He took the Atlanta job when there were only 21 games left in last season.

He likely could have waited and landed a higher-profile opening — the 76ers, Bucks and the Suns all had openings last summer — but he thinks he found a good spot with a team he can help grow just like he did in Utah.

"Even though you've 'moved on,' and I think everybody that's been in this league understands that's part of it that doesn't mean that you don't look back really fondly," he said. "I think I landed in a good place here, but, again, that's just a big part of my life."

Snyder said that from afar he's been impressed with what coach Will Hardy hads done with the Jazz and the unique things he has been running. And, yes, he is looking forward to his return trip to Salt Lake City on March 15 — though, he hasn't put much thought into yet.

"I've thought about this game (Tuesday's); I can't get too far forward," he said. "The Jazz organization, it's a great organization, and there are a lot of the people that you care about. You're not there very long (as a visiting team), so it's hard to reconnect with friends and things like that, but your focus is on the game. And other things, obviously, creep in and you think about them, but I'm thinking about the Jazz against the Hawks tonight."

The more true reunion will come next month.

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