Jazz must pray Ace Bailey immediately makes realization Steph Curry made

There have been a lot of rumors surrounding Ace Bailey's hesitance to play for the Utah Jazz. No matter what happens, he will be a Jazzman on opening night. Even if he didn't want the Jazz, there is hope for this situation because few people know that Stephen Curry didn't want the Golden State Warriors to pick him either.

With the Bailey situation unfolding, ESPN's Marc J. Spears brought up that Curry did not want Golden State to pick him before the 2009 NBA Draft, as his representation had done everything possible to prevent it from happening. What the all-timer wanted at the time was to be a New York Knick.

Several years ago, Harvey Araton revealed more about the situation for The New York Times, including how Curry himself did everything he could to stay off the Warriors' radar.

"Curry wanted no part of the Warriors and, assuming he was not going to be drafted higher, pointed to the Knicks as his preferred landing site. Curry refused to so much as visit or work out for the Warriors."

Golden State wasn't exactly one of the NBA's most relevant teams, and Araton referenced his father's concern with the character of some of the players on the team. However, when they picked him, Curry sucked it up, and the rest was history from there. 16 years later, the Warriors made the best decision in franchise history.

While some may freak out when situations like these happen, more often than not, they don't escalate into anything. Jayson Tatum also didn't want the Boston Celtics to draft him, primarily because he thought he wouldn't play for them. That fear was reinforced when they signed Jazz alum Gordon Hayward a month after drafting him.

While Tatum eventually got his chance through unfortunate circumstances, it wasn't a problem in the end for either side. That is typically how it works. Curry and Tatum's stories are the best examples, as not everyone who gets drafted to a team they initially don't want to play for goes on to become a superstar and win titles.

If Bailey lives up to his potential, his story could turn out much like Curry's or Tatum's when it's all over. The point of this story is that this shouldn't have been that big of a story to begin with. It's not even clear if the rumblings about Bailey not wanting to play in Utah were actually legitimate, and will hopefully be forgotten about in due time.

Bailey reporting to Utah hopefully puts this all to bed

With all the stories circulating about Bailey since the Jazz picked him, it has been revealed that Bailey will report to Utah, and that all parties are excited to see this union come to fruition.

With any luck, this story will be dead and buried by the time Summer League starts. When Bailey plays in front of a Jazz crowd for the first time, he'll realize why Utah was ecstatic to get him with the No. 5 pick, and why it was the best place for his career to start.