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Will Hardy: When I talked to Kevin Love this summer, he did have a lot of questions and rightfully so. He's earned the right to really try to understand what's going on here and how he fit. And I told Kevin, ‘I can't promise you minutes, but I can promise you a role and that we need you, because we have a lot of young players that are going through the early part of their career trying to find their footing and you have a ton of experience, and you've had good experiences, you've had bad experiences, but you also have what they want, which is longevity in the NBA. You've won at the highest level and you can say things to them that I can't. Like you can speak from experiences that I can't.’ And Kevin has been very honest with our team, he's been very honest with me in terms of moments that he's struggled in his career and why, what he's learned from those things, the perspective now that he has. And I think those things are helping all of us grow. Believe me, Kevin has an impact on me just like he has on our players.
Will Hardy: I still have seared in my brain this this mental image of Tim Duncan in his last season in San Antonio, shooting jump hooks on the gun 45 minutes before a shoot around of game like 40 of the season. He's shooting three-foot jump hooks over the net with the gun in his last season. And then you're going, that's unbelievable, that that guy still had the want to and the awareness and the presence of mind to say like ‘this is my process and I have to practice these little bunnies to start my day.’ At that point obviously in his career, his routines were his routines. And my hope is that we can help our young players for each person build their own routines of what helps them prepare to play and prepare to win at the highest level.
Tom Orsborn: Beyond the obvious athleticism at the rim, Will Hardy raves about Dylan Harper’s smart way of playing the game: “He very rarely has a play where you go, ‘What was he thinking?’ He kind of plays within himself and within their team construct.”
Andy Larsen: Will Hardy says Jazz are sticking with the same starting lineup against the Mavericks this afternoon… which likely again means no Jusuf Nurkic or Svi Mykhailiuk. Also says he hasn’t heard from the league about his DNP-CDs.
“Comparison is the thief of joy.” That was Will Hardy’s first response when I brought up the fact that lately people had been comparing Keyonte George’s third season to Donovan Mitchell’s third season. “He’s got a lot of sayings,” George said with a laugh when I told him what the Utah Jazz head coach said. “But when it comes to that type of stuff, he’s real good on keeping you grounded.”
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Andy Larsen: Will Hardy on Ace Bailey’s hip injury: “Yeah, it's still day to day. You know, he felt like he could go in OKC, and then after his first two shifts, we didn't love how he looked moving, he didn't love how he felt, and so we don't want to put him in a position that hurts him.”
Q. Who would you say like young player you were impressed with? Jayson Tatum: Keyonte George out of Utah. So I remember playing against them last year, and I saw him play. They came, they beat us by like two like a month ago. And I’m sitting in the back, I’m talking to Jason Terry and Will Hardy, coaches from Utah. And I’m just watching the game, and I’m seeing he got bigger and I’m just seeing he got a different burst about him, he got different confidence. He really worked on his game this summer.
“I can’t really stress enough how patient he was with me,” Nurkić said. “Through my whole career, I didn’t have a coach like that. I’ve been in some rough spots through my career, but never had that support like he does for me.” The support has come through small actions, like Hardy telling Nurkić to trust himself and not worry about small mistakes, trusting Nurkić to help teach the younger players timing and angles, knowing that Nurkić’s value to the greater goals of the Jazz — development of young players and having a physical presence on the court — is more important than a few mistakes.
“Nurk helps us create an advantage in a way that no one else does,” Hardy said. “His screening, his ability to get his teammates open — and I think he’s done a better job of rolling and making himself available, but more than that, his teammates have rewarded him ... But his physicality in general, his screening, rebounding, is unique in our league. Like, he’s in a category almost all by himself, in terms of the way that he can help you create advantage."
Speaking on the latest episode of The Young Man & The Three, the rookie explained how quickly accountability arrived at the professional level. “Will took me out in the first five minutes. I wasn’t playing defense. I was like wow. You don’t play defense you can’t play at all.” Bailey added that the moment came against one of the league’s most established scorers during an early-season matchup with Phoenix. “I was guarding D-Book. It was Phoenix. First game vs. D-Book. That was my first time vs. him. Me watching film, I’m thinking film was enough. I should’ve been preparing the night before that. I mean it’s D-Book so it's just like me coming in, not knowing the physicality of the game. It’s different.”
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Will Hardy: chews out his Jazz players during a timeout: “I’m tired of fucking doing this every game. Fucking play harder.” pic.twitter.com/oBZws0gIIs
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) December 8, 2025
Dave McMenamin: “We need him.” Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy gives an impassioned 2 1/2 minute answer about the importance of Kevin Love with his team after the 18-year veteran landed in Utah after an unexpected trade from Miami in the offseason.
“We need him.” Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy gives an impassioned 2 1/2 minute answer about the importance of Kevin Love with his team after the 18-year veteran landed in Utah after an unexpected trade from Miami in the offseason. pic.twitter.com/NDkGWlp2A9
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) November 19, 2025
You spent a significant amount of time in Utah. Have you watched them on League Pass? Collin SextonL Oh yeah, I definitely watch those of my guys, especially Coach Will Hardy. I love Coach Will. He’s one of those coaches that I got to learn from and he got to learn from me, pretty well. But I definitely keep up with them, the guys, and certain guys that I played with around the league.
