Shortly after Keyonte George signed his team-friendly extension with the Utah Jazz, the team held a press conference for the blossoming young star. Besides how exciting it is to see Utah make it clear how much they value George, what was also really encouraging was the turnout.
Quite of the Jazz's teammates showed up to George's conference, including Lauri Markkane, Jaren Jackson Jr., Jusuf Nurkic, Darryn Peterson, Svi Mykhailiuk, Blake Hinson, Mo Bamba, and Tamar Bates, per Fox 13's Grace Lawrence.
Funny how this was simply to announce George's extension, and yet, his teammates were there to celebrate such a milestone as he got his big payday following his breakout season. This is an exciting development because, even if Utah plans to be good, part of how they get there is team chemistry.
Showing up for events like these demonstrate that they're well-aware of this and that they are doing everything they can to be on the same page. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and the Jazz are already taking the necessary steps to ensure they are unified as a team as opposed to a roster full of unique individual talents.
They've been doing this for some time now
This isn't the first time we've seen the Jazz players show unity with one another. Earlier in the offseason, George and JJJ went to Finland along with Will Hardy to practice with Lauri Markkanen during the FIBA tournament.
They didn't have to do this, but going out of their way to further proves that they are well-aware of their assignment. It's not just about playing good basketball, but developing a strong rapport with one another so that hubris doesn't get in their way.
With Utah about to embark on its best season in years, we must remember that what factored into the downfall of the Rudy Gobert-Donovan Mitchell era was they were never consistently on the same page with one another, which played into why the team never reached its full potential.
It's only been four years since they dismantled that era, so you better believe the Jazz still have that fresh on their minds. They don't have any bad apples on the roster. At least, for now, they don't, but times like these are a good reminder that they want to avoid the same fate.
George signing his extension wasn't really all that surprising. In fact, seeing his teammates there after at that press conference after he did isn't that surprising either. It's just a matter of how encouraging all of that is.
Add us as a preferred source on Google