LAS VEGAS — Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy told me last season that Kyle Filipowski has an edge to him. He can get fiery and passionate and has a different side that has yet to come out. Hardy even said that he could imagine Filipowski being a player that would get into a fight during a game.
At first, I was skeptical. Are we talking about the same Kyle Filipowski? The soft spoken, mild-mannered guy who was nervous in front of the cameras when he first joined the team?
But slowly, I saw flashes of what Hardy was talking about. There were moments of pointed trash talk, mean mugs, some feisty pushes here and there and a certain increased level of physicality and determination when he was feeling a certain way.
“I think if the situation calls for it,” Filipowski said, before defending himself a little. “I’m gonna be a patient guy, but you know, if something happens over and over long enough, or I feel like I’m being disrespected, then of course, I’m gonna stand my ground.”
Then there was Sunday’s NBA Summer League game, when Filipowski got into a little bit of a kerfuffle with Golden State’s Alex Toohey.
Then there was Monday night’s game, which was an entirely different beast.
The climactic moment came with 1.9 seconds left in overtime against the San Antonio Spurs. Filipowski drove in for a game-tying dunk and then unleashed screams and flexes that had the crowd at Thomas & Mack Center on its feet, clamoring for more.
“That’s just my love for the game, to be honest,” Filipowski said. “I did it when I was a lot younger, I just had that fiery feeling inside of me. I guess sometimes now I tend to try to be more calm in games, but when the time is right, I like to let it out.”
With that dunk, Filipowski punctuated an incredible game of 35 points and 11 rebounds on 11-of-19 shooting, including going 5-of-8 from 3-point range.
The Jazz didn’t win the game as a last-second shot from the Spurs gave them the edge, but it’s Summer League and frankly, the results don’t really matter.
Filipowski is the scoring leader of Las Vegas Summer League at 29.3 points per game, a full 3.3 points ahead of Drew Timme.
Filipowski is preparing for a larger role on Jazz for the 2025-26 season, he paid his dues last season, bouncing between the G League and the NBA, he worked to earn the trust and respect of his teammates and coaches and he has no reason not to let it all out.
Monday night was a glimpse at what many behind the scenes knew was possible from Filipowski.