The Salt Lake City Summer League was the scene of an unprecedented scene this summer. Present at the edge of the field as a spectator, the new Utah recruit John Collins took his place alongside Will Hardy, his new coach, Justin Zanik, the GM of the Jazz, and… Jeff Hornacek.
A true Jazz legend, whose number 14 now sits on the ceiling of the Vivint Arena, the former shooter then embraced a career in coaching between 2011 and 2022, before returning home to help launch the new project built around Will Hardy. Rarely present during home matches and always absent on trips, Hornacek is not an assistant like the others.
From his home in Arizona, he now operates in the shadows as “advisor-consultant” to Will Hardy. A real luxury for the young coach who was thus able to benefit from the insights of his elder, whether for his adaptation to life in Salt Lake City and of course to discuss questions specific to basketball.
“Jeff watches all our matches and we talk after each match about what he sees”, said Hardy. “I told him I wish he would just think like he was me.”
Trust and kindness
Like Milwaukee did with Adrian Griffin by initially hiring Terry Stotts and Joe Prunty, the idea was to be able to provide Will Hardy with support and experience. Jeff Hornacek worked as an assistant (two years at Utah between 2011 and 2013 and two more at the Rockets from 2020) and head coach, at Phoenix (2013-2016) then at the Knicks (2016-2018). The geographical distance between the two men is not reflected in the quality of their relationship, and also allows Will Hardy to remain the sole master on board, which represents additional comfort for him.
“He’s a very good friend, a confidant and, in a way, a mentor to me in this role, because he also knows what it’s like to be a head coach for the first time . In difficult moments of the season, he sometimes tells me: “Hold on, you are doing the right thing.” It’s a difficult period spanning 82 matches and he helped me a lot to calm down.”says Will Hardy. “The advantage of having someone in Jeff’s position is that he isn’t consumed by the day-to-day details. It is therefore not influenced by our meetings within the staff. Every once in a while, Jeff can tell me something that helps me refocus my attention, because it’s the big picture. That’s when I think, “Oh, wow, that’s not true, am I missing something?” Wow, did I miss that? “.
A way to take a step back
Jeff Hornacek represents a benevolent influence, who will above all work for the good performance of his franchise and not for his personal interests. With hindsight, he can also see things that may escape Will Hardy’s staff, even if the former shooter wanted to downplay the importance of his role to highlight the work of the youngest coach in the league behind Joe Mazzulla
“When you are a head coach, you speak with the owner, you take care of the business aspect, the marketing, the press, everything else. You are so involved during the match and training…Sometimes we need to see things in perspective”slipped Jeff Hornacek. “But if there’s one thing I can say, it’s that Will is really good. I don’t really have much to do.”
