Make no mistake, early February is one of the most complex and challenging times in the NBA.
The dog days are prevalent. The mundaneness of the season is in full swing. Nagging ailments threaten to become serious injuries. The All-Star break — a much-needed getaway from the game — can’t come soon enough. But more than the physical struggles of the body, the mental and emotional well-being of the players is stretched thin.
“It’s stressful for everybody,” head coach Will Hardy said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty around the league at this time of year. … It’s not just in our building, it’s everywhere. These are moments where you’re reminded of the human elements that go into all this when you’re dealing with the players and the team.
The NBA trade deadline is often one of the most exciting times for fanbases. It’s a time when teams go from being postseason hopefuls to title contenders. Or they head in the opposite direction, setting their sights on a top draft pick for a brighter future. Regardless, it’s when the immediate or prolonged future gets brighter.
But for most players, it’s a time when the human element of things can be forgotten. The players in the NBA are, at their core, regular people like you and I. It’s one of the most often overlooked concepts for a professional athlete.
“It’s one of those things where if you’re not in the sports world, you’re not going to understand it,” Kelly Olynyk said. “Whether you’ve got a family and kids, or whatever else you have going on in life, it’s a big impact on someone. You get used to things a certain way, a certain routine with your family, and then you have to just move and adapt. … But you have to make the most of it.”
While this part of the season may be one of the more difficult times to navigate, it’s also where Hardy thrives as a coach. He’s said it since he was first hired in June 2022, “There is more to life than the game of basketball.” Translation: Basketball is what these guys do, not who they are.
“I do want our team and our players to always know that I recognize that they are human beings,” he said. “They have things going on within the constructs of the business of basketball, all the time. … And it does impact them. They’re not robots, and they can’t just always separate everything from what goes on in between the lines.”
With social media running rampant with trade rumors, it’s hard to know what’s real and what isn’t. It’s why Hardy is leaving things like that to those in charge: General Manager Justin Zanik and CEO of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge. He prefers not to be involved, instead staying focused on the group of players he has in front of him until he’s told otherwise.
“Most things have to reach a certain level before they bring me in,” Hardy said. “If they told me about every phone call that was incoming or outgoing, that would be really distracting for me. … I have enough problems to try to solve on my own. The line of communication between Danny, Justin, myself, Ryan (Smith), the four of us, is wide open. … I don’t feel like I’m in the dark at all.”
The organization understands the business side of things — and first and foremost, the NBA is among the biggest and best businesses in the world. It’s a lesson many learn as soon as they enter the league. But that doesn’t mean they have to lose sight of the personal side of things.
“Every guy in the locker room is in a different situation. … I think it would be shortsighted to pretend like those things aren’t happening,” Hardy said. “It doesn’t mean that every day we have to have some big conversation about what’s going on. … I try to be as honest as I can. One thing we’ve tried our best not to do is hide from the fact that this is a business and there are times of the year that are stressful.”
However, just because Hardy and the organization understand the mental toll this time of the year takes on players, it doesn’t mean they’ve lost sight of their ultimate goal: bringing a title to Utah.
“I’ve talked a lot this year about we’re a program that is building towards hunting a championship,” Hardy said. “That’s what we are trying to do. … We are trying to learn how to win as a group. The first part of that is understanding what’s happening around you and what situation you’re in.”