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As the NBA has evolved, so too have coaching staffs. What used to be small staffs of a handful of coaches have grown astronomically. Today it is normal to have the front-bench assistant coaches, the second-row assistant coaches and even more beyond that.
Coaching staffs include head coaches, assistant coaches, player development coaches and many who are working as video coordinators for teams also take part in development work. And while Utah Jazz fans are probably familiar with seeing the Jazz coaching staff on the sidelines at games, a huge part of their job is being able to hang on the court with the players.
They are tasked with acting as a teammate during warmups, they play defender against players during offensive drills and some of the assistants scrimmage against players during practices. And there are quite a few Jazz assistant coaches who can really hold their own against NBA talent. Additionally, coaches often will play pickup games against one another in battles that can be really intense.
Thinking through these things prompted me to ask Jazz head coach Will Hardy on Thursday, “Who is the best basketball player on the coaching staff?”
Avery Bradley is a part of the front office, so he wasn’t included in the answer, and Jason Terry was of course an incredible NBA player in his day, but I wanted to know who was currently the best basketball player on the Jazz staff.
Hardy said there were three assistants that clearly stand out, and for different reasons. Andrew Warren, who played collegiately at Bradley University, Chris Jones (University of Pittsburgh) and Evan Bradds (Belmont University).
“I think all around, Chris Jones could have a pretty good impact in the game,” Hardy said. “Evan Bradds, offensively, all around is the best player right now. The best shooter is Drew, for sure. But Chris recently dunked on an unnamed player on our team at shootaround and caused the team to have to run. So he probably has the biggest highlight of the season.”
I asked some players and all of the assistants who they thought was the best player too. Players largely agreed that Jones was the answer and most of the assistants said Jones as well, though a few of the assistants said it was a tossup between Bradds and Jones.
Jones said the best player is Bradds. Bradds said the best player is Jones. And Warren said he would choose himself and accused the other coaches of lying in an attempt to be humble (all with a smile on his face, of course).
For most of Thursday I tried to get a coach to name the player that was dunked on by Jones during the recent game-day morning practice, and no one wanted to throw the player under the bus. But then, when talking with Kyle Filipowski after the game, he willingly revealed that it was him AND Walker Kessler who were the victims of Jones’ athleticism.
New with the Jazz
Quote of the week
“The NBA will stop for no one, and our program will stop for nobody. There needs to be accountability of self first and everybody on our team needs to understand that opportunity should not be taken lightly.” — Jazz head coach Will Hardy
From the archives
Extra points
Will Hardy: ‘The NBA will stop for no one, and our program will stop for nobody’ (Deseret News)
Donovan Mitchell’s success with Cavs has Jazz fans wondering what could have been (Deseret News)
The heartwarming reason why Joe Ingles is the talk of the NBA (Deseret News)
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March 31 | 5 p.m. MDT | Utah Jazz @ Charlotte Hornets | KJZZ
April 2 | 6 p.m. MDT | Utah Jazz @ Houston Rockets | KJZZ
April 4 | 5 p.m. MDT | Utah Jazz @ Charlotte Hornets | KJZZ