Plenty of Utah Jazz alumni are participating in the 2026 NBA Playoffs. Chief among them is former Jazz coach Quin Snyder, who has been coaching the Atlanta Hawks since 2023. The Hawks aren't a title contender, but following the Trae Young trade, they have become a frisky team no team wants to face in the playoffs.
That all culminated in the Hawks taking a game from the New York Knicks in their first-round matchup. Such a scenario should sound familiar to the Jazz fanbase because that's how Snyder made his mark as their coach.
Not being favored never stopped those Snyder-led Jazz teams, from the impressive Jazz team led by the soon-to-depart Gordon Hayward to the electrifying rookie season with Donovan Mitchell. Both times, they surprised everyone when they beat their much more experienced opponents in the first round. First, the Clippers, and then, the Thunder.
So it comes as no surprise that the Hawks are doing similar damage to the Knicks, who have made the playoffs for the fourth straight season. Whether they beat the Knicks is yet to be determined, but after snaring homecourt advantage, they've made it clear they won't be an easy out.
History is repeating itself in more ways than one with Snyder
While we're on the subject, the Hawks have managed to look impressive even while making some pretty seismic moves at the deadline: trading Trae Young and Kristaps Porzingis. And yet, this is the most promising they've looked in quite some time.
In a way, it's reminiscent of when the Jazz transitioned from losing Hayward to letting Mitchell take his spot as their offensive hub. With players like old friend Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jalen Johnson, and CJ McCollum, Atlanta is building something solid after years of being one of the NBA's most well-known treadmill teams.
To be perfectly fair, Snyder coached those treadmill teams, but only because he and the Hawks depended on Young to bring back the same magic that got them to the Eastern Conference Finals five years ago. When it became clear that the day would never come, they changed the formula.
Unlike back when he was Utah's coach, Atlanta didn't become the team they are now by force, but it was clear they were right to move on when they did. Doing so has made Snyder flex his coaching muscles yet again.
Now whether Snyder can take the Hawks than he ever took the Jazz, we won't know for some time. However, it's cool to see Snyder start to get the results that garnered plenty of admiration when he was calling the shots in Utah.
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