With the NBA playoffs far out of reach and the NBA Draft Lottery the only scoreboard that matters, Will Hardy has transferred his message to the young Utah Jazz roster. Forget rigid scripts. Think for yourself. The Jazz want their players to be decision-makers, independent thinkers who are able to direct their own careers. Speaking after the All-Star break, Hardy presented a philosophy that stands in stark contrast to the hyper-structured world of modern NBA player development.
The Jazz, sitting at the bottom of the Western Conference with one of the league's worst records, are succumbing to the realities of a rebuild. Victory is rare. Minutes are plentiful for the young core. They need to figure out who has the ability to gain control instead of just following orders.
"With all of our young players, we're encouraging them to be independent thinkers about their careers, about their development," Hardy said. "It's about who they want to be as a person, where they want to be as a player, because I think in today's world, we have a lot of personal trainers. We have strength coaches, and the staff has grown up as well."
The alternative, Hardy warned, is a dangerous inaction.
"So it can be easier for the players," Hardy admitted, "if they want, check their phone, look at the schedule that's set out for them. They come into the facility and take what they should be taking for breakfast. We say here are the vitamins you should be taking. They go into the weight room, and it's two sets of something with eight reps each. We go on the court and tell them where to shoot. They can go all day without having to make decisions for themselves."
Hardy believes that hand-to-hand existence poses a long-term risk. One day, the structure disappears. Come free agency, a trade means joining a new team, or life after basketball will have to be considered. The players discover that they never learned to pilot their ship.
"It can be a slippery slope," Hardy said, "because there will come a day when they realize they have no control over what they're doing."
Hardy was careful not to suggest a single solution. He acknowledged that agency is not something every young player is ready to embrace immediately.
"I think it's a case-by-case basis, but we have to encourage all of our athletes to think about it," Hardy shared. "As you move along in your process, some people may feel like taking on that agency. Some people may not want to take on that agency because they're not sure what to do with it."
In a season defined by accusations of tanking (earlier this month the Jazz were fined $500,000 by the NBA for resting healthy players, which the league deemed harmful), Hardy's approach has doubled as both practical and philosophical. With little to lose in the standings, franchises can afford to experiment, fail and adjust players on their own terms. The goal is not to produce more losses, but to create more self-reliant professionals who will eventually thrive when the franchise fights again.
It remains to be seen whether every player embraces the freedom. Hardy acknowledged that some people would crave the comfort of a printed program. However, in a rebuild where the future is more important than the present, the Jazz are betting that the people who step up and make their own decisions will be the ones who will matter most when the tank eventually ends.
