Utah Jazz: Tony Bradley and Ed Davis missed out on big opportunities in OKC
By Josh Padmore
Tony Bradley was ready to start at center for the Utah Jazz against the Oklahoma City Thunder prior to the NBA suspending the season. Ed Davis was looking at rotational time as well.
The NBA suspending the season and the novel coronavirus making its way into the league has devastated Utah Jazz fans and basketball fans. Not only has it ripped basketball from us, it’s ripped most sports from us. Life without sports is proving to be excruciatingly boring.
It also ripped grand opportunities for Utah Jazz centers Tony Bradley and Ed Davis. Bradley was slated to start at center on March 11th against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Rudy Gobert was ruled out with an illness, which obviously turned out to be the novel coronavirus.
Bradley had serious momentum heading into that game. During the Jazz’s recent Eastern Conference road-trip, he played his best basketball of the season. He even shined on the defensive end, which is an area of his game that he typically struggles with.
The third year center from North Carolina could have ended up having a huge game for the Jazz. We will never know, which sucks. He was averaging 6.6 points and 5.4 rebounds while shooting 80 percent from the floor this month.
Ed Davis, who also played at North Carolina, has sparingly played this season for the Jazz. He was struggling when he was in the rotation, and Bradley flourished enough to keep that backup center role.
Personally, I’m a huge fan of Davis, so I would have loved to have seen him get some run. Davis has only seen double-figure minutes twice in 2020, which, by the way, has been an painful year for all of us.
These two getting their opportunities would have been nice to see, but obviously the NBA did the right thing by prioritizing health and well-being. If the season resumes in what could be up to 3 months, Bradley and Davis would go back to their normal roles.
Next. Is the Rudy Gobert/Donovan Mitchell relationship repairable?. dark
For more information about COVID-19, visit the CDC’s website or the website for your state’s Department of Health.