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John Stockton is not a fan of the Utah Jazz intentionally tanking to get new players, slamming President Danny Ainge.
The Utah Jazz are hoping to turn things around this season. After the collapse of the Donovan Mitchell–Rudy Gobert pairing, the team is looking to rebuild.
In a controversial move, the Utah Jazz picked a disgruntled Ace Bailey in the 2025 NBA Draft. The Jazz decided to choose his talent and ignore the controversy Bailey created before the draft.
And in recent weeks, we’ve seen bright signs for the upcoming season. Lauri Markkanen’s 48-point performance against Belgium has Jazz fans excited.
But there is one former Jazz legend who doesn’t like how the franchise has been conducting business over the last few years.
John Stockton slams Utah Jazz and Danny Ainge for lack of winning culture
John Stockton spoke in an interview with Cait Nelson recently. When talking about his former team, the Utah Jazz, the NBA’s all-time assists leader didn’t have a lot of nice things to say,
Stockton slammed the franchise for not having a winning culture and intentionally tanking to get good players. Speaking about his own mindset, he would never allow his team to do so.
“I haven’t been tracking them, but I know that there doesn’t seem to be a mission to win. If that’s true, that’s frustrating. Because I think that culture is so hard to come by.
“I know how hard it was for the Utah Jazz to become a winning organization to begin with, and I came in on the tail end of that. I got to build from that with my teammates.
“But I wouldn’t give up that fight to win every single game, every single quarter, for anything – for future draft choices, for future anything. Because the future… it moves.”
Danny Ainge must find a way to turn things around
The Utah Jazz have some strong young players on their roster. But they haven’t shown any signs over the last few years.
With Lauri Markkanen and Ace Bailey, the Jazz have a brilliant foundation to build on. But they haven’t been able to avoid becoming a perennial buyout target.
The Jazz are close to agreeing to a buyout with Kevin Love, as he looks for a move to the LA Lakers or LA Clippers.
And given how poorly Jusuf Nurkic looked for Bosnia and Herzegovina, he might also be on the chopping block for the Jazz.
If Danny Ainge wants the Jazz to become a strong team, he must stop entertaining underwhelming, aging players and focus on harnessing the best talent possible.
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