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D-Will Interview, quote about recruiting players to SLC

BOX said:
I'm not disagreeing with the fact that Utah is a tough sell, but when did the jazz have money to even make a run at a quality free agent a possibility? Just sayin.
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Sign and trade is one way. Maybe then using AK's contract. Or Boozer's. Packaged with picks or whatever. That was for KOC to work out. But first you have to make players actually agree to go to Utah, which is what DWill says he tried to do.
 
Recruiting does not have to mean for the following year. Deron knows when everyone's contract is up. He could easily have been trying to lay the groundwork for players to come and getting those responses.
 
That's the mind set of most NBA players these days.....

Option 1: Play for an organization that is successful?

Option 2: Play for an organization that sucks but has a great party life?

PARTY TIME!
 
reading that entire article makes the D-Will trade even more heartbreaking for me... I sort of understand why the Jazz ownership/management did what they did when they did it, but still think they acted prematurely. In many ways, Deron and his family are exactly the type of folks that SLC should embrace...

it also repeats much of what I'd read about Deron and his background since his freshman year at Illinois, and is much of the reason I became a fan of his back then, and will continue to be a fan...

one thing you all seem to be missing (the cynical side of me says it's intentional) is his comment regarding Boozer, and how his loss ended up "leaving Williams without a proven standout to share the load." - - I think the "share the load" reference is as much in regards to attracting other talent to SLC as to on the basketball court. And in hindsight, for what the Jazz are paying Jefferson and what Boozer signed for with the Bulls, he would have come back to SLC. (not sure if I can find the quote, but he did say that)

"It's really important for me to keep my family together," Williams says. "I couldn't live without my family and kids. I love them too much. I love my wife too much. I think my father not being around and my brother's father not being in his life, you realize how tough it is and you need a father figure, and my kids love me."

Amy agrees, and says she and her husband already have experienced life well beyond their years....
---
Amy Williams didn't exactly choose this life. She didn't know her boyfriend - they've been friends since grade school - was going to be an NBA star, or even a college star.

Nobody knew. When they first began dating, Williams was a just a top-100 recruit, an overlooked guard on a stacked high school team in a suburb of Dallas. He was more crapshoot than sure thing.

...When their daughter, Denae, was born in 2003, Deron became a teenaged dad with no money. Amy would drive over 800 miles from Dallas to Illinois, where Deron was playing for the Fighting Illini, on the weekends.

"You never know if you're going to be with somebody forever when you're that young, so that was probably the toughest part," says Amy. "But for me, none of that mattered. Really, my top priority was to make sure my daughter would see her dad."
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But Williams' relationship with Utah soured quickly in February when Jerry Sloan unexpectedly resigned and critics blamed Williams. Coach and star had an argument over play-calling just two days before Sloan announced his resignation. It was one of many disagreements between Williams and Sloan, but both parties denied their relationship was the reason for Sloan's sudden departure.

Nonetheless, Williams was portrayed as a selfish prima donna. It affected his family in Salt Lake City, where Amy and Deron still own a home...
"It was hard in the end when people were acting as if Deron had done something wrong, when all the other times, when Deron was playing right and things were good, everyone worshipped him," Amy says. "Jerry leaves and all of a sudden it's his fault. Even my daughter heard stuff at school."
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Williams isn't quite sold on the city life, not after living in less-intense Texas and Salt Lake City. He isn't a fan of the clutter, though this may all get better when Amy and the kids arrive before the start of next season.

For Williams, home is where his family is, and where they know how to pronounce his name.

Read more: https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/...the_nets_say_thats_all_abo.html#ixzz1HuPapQyn
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anyhow, being the true sap that I am, this is one of my favorite parts of the article:
amd_amy-williams.jpg



Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed the article. Though I'm sure we'll get a few complaints that it needs to be moved since it's not "Jazz related"...
 
moevillini said:
reading that entire article makes the D-Will trade even more heartbreaking for me... I sort of understand why the Jazz ownership/management did what they did when they did it, but still think they acted prematurely. In many ways, Deron and his family are exactly the type of folks that SLC should embrace...

it also repeats much of what I'd read about Deron and his background since his freshman year at Illinois, and is much of the reason I became a fan of his back then, and will continue to be a fan...

one thing you all seem to be missing (the cynical side of me says it's intentional) is his comment regarding Boozer, and how his loss ended up "leaving Williams without a proven standout to share the load." - - I think the "share the load" reference is as much in regards to attracting other talent to SLC as to on the basketball court. And in hindsight, for what the Jazz are paying Jefferson and what Boozer signed for with the Bulls, he would have come back to SLC. (not sure if I can find the quote, but he did say that)






anyhow, being the true sap that I am, this is one of my favorite parts of the article:
amd_amy-williams.jpg



Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed the article. Though I'm sure we'll get a few complaints that it needs to be moved since it's not "Jazz related"...
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This post got to me. +rep
 
I'm a Jazz fan not a Utah fan...most people who are Jazz fan want them to move to attract more free agents (maybe in baseball or football small market teams can win but not basketball.
 
Chad Feldheimer said:
Well DWill was here for more than just last year. In fact several years.


If you were young and (most likely black) had a ton of money would you want to live in Utah?

The winters suck (cold & smoggy)
Taxes are really high
Not much of a night life to speak of
Mostly white population & majority Mormon

Williams had a helluva tough sale.
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I'd be very curious to hear someone elaborate about the taxes. Really, taxes are higher than New York, Chicago, or LA? Please explain.

On the other hand , I can think of some pluses to Utah. For one thing , I would think a young guy could live a heck of a lot better there than in many other cities, much nicer home, for starters. Maybe this is not an issue for superstars, but a good young player might be smart enough to realize he may have to live the rest of his life on what he makes in a few years playing. It might make sense to spend a half million on a house in Utah instead of 2 million on a house in New York? Just a thought.
 
I wouldn't mind seeing the team move to a larger market and I'm from Utah. Well, I spent a good portion of my childhood there. If it's better for the team, do it. On the other hand, Utah loses one of its most prized possessions.
 
It wouldn't be "the team" anymore, it would be a different team. And the larger markets already have more than enough sports teams.
 
northeast said:
I'd be very curious to hear someone elaborate about the taxes. Really, taxes are higher than New York, Chicago, or LA? Please explain.

On the other hand , I can think of some pluses to Utah. For one thing , I would think a young guy could live a heck of a lot better there than in many other cities, much nicer home, for starters. Maybe this is not an issue for superstars, but a good young player might be smart enough to realize he may have to live the rest of his life on what he makes in a few years playing. It might make sense to spend a half million on a house in Utah instead of 2 million on a house in New York? Just a thought.
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You forgot the incredibly hot *** here, stuck up as any, but hottttt everywhere. Millionaires don't have to worry about stuck up girlies either. $$$ has a tendency to change character flaws.
 
Jazz Punk Rocker said:
I'm a Jazz fan not a Utah fan...most people who are Jazz fan want them to move to attract more free agents (maybe in baseball or football small market teams can win but not basketball.
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I live in Vegas and do not want them to move. The Jazz are Utah, dude. That said if they want to move them to Vegas I would still be a fan:)
 
kwb said:
That's the mind set of most NBA players these days.....

Option 1: Play for an organization that is successful?

Option 2: Play for an organization that sucks but has a great party life?

PARTY TIME!
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Option 3: Play for an organization that will pay me the most and let me be 'the man' in a town with hot chicks. (See: Joe Johnson & Shawn Marion)
 
Jazz Punk Rocker said:
I'm a Jazz fan not a Utah fan...most people who are Jazz fan want them to move to attract more free agents (maybe in baseball or football small market teams can win but not basketball.
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Did you become a Jazz fan cause you liked the note logo?

The Jazz are part of Utah dude. That's the whole appeal. Thats the heart of the team. Me as a kid who grew up here, having Jazz playoff days in the elementary lunch rooms, watching Malone and Stockton growing up, having rivalries with the new kid who just moved here from Chicago... that's what its always been about.
 
I am not from Utah, and I would definitely stop supporting the Jazz if they move. Hell, I went to college in the US and almost took a job in SLC just because I'm a Jazz fan. SLC=Jazz
 
Nate505 said:
Pretty fair comments from DWill. Nothing I didn't already know, but for a guy who speaks honestly it was nice to hear him not bad mouth the city.
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This.


I'll just add I think the Jazz were fortunate to have two guys, one in Stockton who hated the media, the other in Malone who was/is a gosh darn hick and loved the outdoors, for so many years. It would be helpful to get another such player.
 
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