Following the conclusion of the 2020-21 season, Collin Sexton appeared well on his way to becoming a star in the NBA. He finished that breakout season by averaging 24.3 points and 4.4 assists per game while playing/starting in 60 games.
Unfortunately, disaster struck the following year when Sexton tore his meniscus just 11 games into the season, causing him to miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery. After being traded to Utah that offseason, Sexton was still brought along slowly by the Jazz when he played in just 48 games (15 starts) during the 2022-23 season.
While Sexton understood why the Jazz were cautious during his first season back since the injury, he isn't built to take things slowly. That's why he made it his mission to play all 82 games this past year — an accomplishment he hadn't done since his rookie season five years ago.
"I was very disappointed, but 78 was my 82. … That's how I look at it," he said. "I can't be too mad about it. … I know certain things about your health are important and sometimes you gotta take those things serious. But to be able to play 78 after playing 48 last year, that's a huge accomplishment."
If not for a late-season illness, Sexton would've accomplished his goal — yet 78 games was a nice consolation prize. Most importantly, Sexton came out of the season healthy and appeared to be returning to the same form he had before the injury.
"I feel like I would evaluate it as a pretty good one, a pretty good season overall," he said. "First, staying healthy, that would be the No. 1 evaluation. … And No. 2, just getting better as the season progressed in all categories. I feel like at the start of the season, I started figuring out how Will (Hardy) wanted me to play and what this team needed from me. … Over the season, the games just stacked up and I continued to get better every night.”
After a start to the season where he was finding his rhythm and getting his feet wet, Sexton turned things around when he averaged 20+ points per game from December through March. He ended the year averaging 18.7 points and 2.6 rebounds per game on 49/39/86 shooting splits. However, the part of the season he's most proud of because he put the most work into it was setting a new career high with 4.9 assists per game.
"I know I wanted to get five (assists) this season, but I'll say I was right there," Sexton said. "I want to build on it and just show them that I can average six assists in a season. … I feel like that's the next step. I want to continue to progress, continue to work with guards that played my position and pretty much just learn from them. … I've got a few things I'm going to do this summer to take my things to the next level."
While the assists number was nice, Sexton is also proud of how he allowed the game to come to him this year. Whatever role was asked of him, whether it be a scorer off the bench or a distributor in the starting lineup, Sexton took it in stride and did it the best he could.
"I can tell how much my passing ability has increased over just the year," Sexton said. "Seeing plays before they happen. … That's something I continued to work on even when the season was going on. I feel like my playmaking and reading ability really took a jump. … Whether the game said pass or the game said shoot, I didn't try and force anything.
"I feel like I had a really efficient year," he added. "I know towards the end the numbers slipped a bit, but I want to be able to shoot over 50%. … I know next year that's something I'll get."
Sexton will now enter one of his favorite times of the year: the offseason. It's a time he believes can be used to separate the good players from the great ones — and that's precisely what he's planning on doing.
"It is fun to wake up and know that I beat my opponent to the gym, and know that I have that one up on the competition," he said. It's something that continues to drive me to be better each and every day. I might get two more workouts in before you when you're just waking up. … That's something I look forward to; it's something I always carry myself."
But when he says wake up, what time does he mean? After all, it's the summer. A time for relaxing and recovering before getting your work in. Yet, that's not who Sexton is.
"I would say wake up early in the morning, like 6," he said of his regular summer schedule. "Get to the gym around 7, lift at 8:30-8:45, eat lunch, then after that I'd just ride the bike and do yoga around 1. Depending on how I feel, get on the track and then maybe just see how the body is going and then get some shots up. I tend to push myself pretty hard, especially just knowing how much growth I can make in things I feel I need to improve on."
"I feel like this summer is going to be a big one."
While Sexton's plans may be big this summer, they pale compared to the ones he has and the Jazz have as a whole. It's been a difficult end to the season the past two years, but he believes it's all part of a plan that, if executed, could be special in the end.
"They're building a winning culture around here and putting guys in this building that want to be here," Sexton said. "At the end of the day, sometimes it is tough, it takes time. … But you can tell the moves that they're making and the things they're doing is showing that we're going to move in the right direction. It's going to be fun for many many years to come."
"I'll definitely be here working out with some of the guys," he added. "We're going to try to get things going. … I know we have dates set for certain workouts just so we're 8, 9, 10 in the building. That's the goal and the biggest thing we need. … It's going to take a group effort to become the best we can be."