It’s
been just over a decade since Theodore “Blue” Edwards last wore
a Utah Jazz uniform. But that doesn’t mean that fans forgot him.
Who could forget some of Edwards’ high-flying-dunks
that left fans in the Salt Palace and Delta Center chanting “Bluuuuueeeeee”?
The memory of the Jazz fans is very much still in Edwards’ head.
“I fed
off the energy that they brought to the game”, says Edwards from
his home in Charlotte, NC, “They got behind you not only when things
were going good, but getting behind you when things were going bad in
order to motivate you and stir you on.”
In 1989, the Jazz
used their first round pick (21 overall) on the athletic 6-4 guard out
of Eastern Carolina University. In his rookie year, Edwards played in
all 82 games, averaging 8.9 points and 3.1 rebounds per game, all while
shooting 51 percent from the field.
His solid play earned
him a spot on the 1990 All Rookie Team (second team). In each of his three
years with the Jazz, Edwards improved in most statistical categories.
It also didn’t hurt that Edwards was playing alongside two future
hall of fame players in John Stockton and Karl Malone
“Playing
with John And Karl, you don’t really appreciate what they do until
you are gone,” says Edwards, “when you are on another team,
you see that you don’t get the open shots and passes that you are
accustomed to.”
As for playing for coach Sloan?“You’re talking about a coach, who prepares
you to be a better person and NBA player,” says Edwards. “Again,
it’s something you take for granted.”
The Jazz dealt Edwards to the Milwaukee Bucks during the
1992 offseason. Over the next seven years, Edwards played with Milwaukee,
Boston, Utah (for 34 games during the 1994-95 season), Vancouver and Miami.
In his 10-year NBA career, Edwards averaged 11 points, 3.4 rebounds and
2 assists per game.
“I was
really tenacious and competitive,” Edwards says of the type of player
he was. “One thing that I really believed in was going out and working
extremely hard and making things happen.”
In 2000, the then
34-year old Edwards took his game overseas. He signed with the Greek team
Olympiakos, one of the European League’s premier teams at the time.
“It
was a different, but really good experience for me,” says Edwards
of his European playing experience.
After one more season with a different Greek team, Dafani,
Edwards officially retired from professional basketball in the summer
of 2001.
Today Edwards is living in his native North Carolina,
with his wife, Valerie, and twin 16-year old daughters Britny and Whitny.
He chose Charlotte because it is just hours away from his hometown, and
he has plenty of family and friends in the area. Edwards spends the majority
of his retired life spending time with his family, coaching basketball
and individually training athletes.
And fortunately for him, he can do all three at the same
time.
One of the
teams he coaches is his daughters’ nationally-ranked AAU teams.
Last year his Charlotte Fire finished the year seventh in the Nation and
featured several college prospects on the roster.
Although Edwards has
his own style of coaching, he says he takes some of the things he learned
from coach Sloan while he was a member of the Jazz.
“I
never really thought much about coaching while I was playing,” says
Edwards. “What I really like is the teaching aspect of it. That’s
why I like working with kids.”
Other than coaching, Edwards’ interests range from
playing with the stock market to reading books. Since he was a Criminal
Justice major in college, he likes to read mysteries. The latest book
he reading is “A Million Little Pieces” by James Frey.
Living in Charlotte, Edwards says he watches a lot of
Carolina Panthers, Charlotte Sting or Bobcats games. Just recently, Edwards
watched the Jazz when they visited Charlotte to take on the Bobcats.
“From time to time I will watch them play, just
to see anything is any different, “says Edwards. “The way
they run their plays has not changed. I can pretty much tell you what
they are going to do, before it actually happens.”
When watching
the Jazz, Edwards says he loves to watch Jazz star Andrei Kirilinko play.
“Here is a guy
that is always hustling or getting involved in plays,” says Edwards,
“I’m really, really big on players who are versatile.”
Catching
Jazz games on TV is not the only way Edwards reconnects with his Utah days.
He and former Jazz teammate Delany Rudd, have become close friends.
“We happen to live not far from each other,”
says Edwards of Rudd, who lives in nearby Greensboro, NC. “We’re
both big on the AAU circuit, with our kids. And we just call each other
from time to time and reminisce about Utah.
”Besides Rudd, Edwards says does not keep in touch with
many Jazz players. Occasionally, Edwards might run into Thurl Bailey and
Mike Brown, both of whom have North Carolina ties.
Edwards has not been back in Utah other than being an
opposing player when he was still in the league several years ago. And
while he is comfortable and happy in Charlotte, he said he would definitely
consider moving back to Salt Lake City, if he received a coaching opportunity.
“It would be nice to come back someday,” says
Edwards, who called playing the Portland Trailblazers in the 1992 Western
Conference Finals as the highlight of his career with the Jazz. “I
wouldn’t mind getting into coaching or radio or TV. If an opportunity
presented itself in Salt Lake, being I lived there and played there, I
wouldn’t hesitate to move back.”
While his fancy dunks are put on display only at the rec
center nowadays, you wonder if anyone there still chants “Bluuueeee”.
If his throw-downs are anything like they were when he was with the Jazz,
then who would doubt it?
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