Meet
FACE of the FRANCHISE
Posted by: Fan on April 24th, 2011
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.When I think of the teams in the playoffs right now, almost every team has a face I associate with that franchise. That list includes
Lakers=Kobe Bryan
Dallas=Dirk Nowitzki
Portland=Brandon Roy
OKC=Kevin Durrant
Miami=LeBron James
Boston=Paul Pierce
San Antonio=Tim Duncan
Indiana=Danny Granger
Orlando=Dwight Howard
Chicago=Derrick Rose
I think you get the idea. But what about the Jazz? Not for this past year, but going forward. I am just not sure, so here are some faces. Who do you think will be the face of the Utah Jazz for the next few years, or is that face not part of the Jazz yet?
The last two are more examples of what might be. So what do you think? Whose face do you want to see on all the advertising and public relations stuff? And will that be the true leader or just the player who will sell the franchise the best?
Replies: 17
Views: 1010
17 Responses
I think you could put up a pretty decent argument that this season Aldrige has been the face of the Blazer. Roy has not done much for them with all his injuries.
I think its pretty obvious that Millsap is currently the face of our franchise. He brings to the court what our franchise as always been; hard work and relentless effort.
With no hesitation, Millsap….
Great question! Big Al played so well the second half of the season, that I could see him in this role right now. Ditto on French Dude’s suggestion of Millsap. He exemplifes what fans love in their Jazz. In the longrun, however, I honestly see Hayward and Favors being a tandem face for the franchise.
Look at Fredette’s passion in that picture. Undeniable. He’s gonna prove all the naysayers wrong I tell you!
He’ll be Steve Nash combined with Durant! You’re all going to wish we had drafted him!
Hahaha ok…maybe I was a little overzealous there. It’s just that fierce baring-teeth look of Jimmer…gets me all crazy.
Anyway, I think the face of the franchise is Millsap this next year. I’ll wait til the end of next year to decide who it is after that, but I would think it’s going to be Hayward. Favors might surpass him at some point after that season.
I think that this question actually depends upon perspective. If your on the outside looking at the team, many will associate that face with Al. You have always had a lot of hype around Al, and Millsap though our workhorse has always played second fiddle to someone, even if we felt he was the better man (Millsap vs Boozer).
If your looking from a Jazz Fan perspctive, its Millsap. He is that underdog who comes in every season and scraps and fights his way up. Always doing what they say he cannot do. Always improving. Rarely causing waves.. He goes out does his job the best he can and we love him for it.
But I have to agree, some time in the future it may be Favors, especially to guys looking in from the outside. Or Hayward and Favors. There could be a new face that comes in and tries to take this spot as well. The exciting thing about this, our team has several to choose from. Not just one face, but in time there may be a hard time deciding who that face is. I love it..
I hope to see Favors as the face of the Jazz… If we get Derrick Williams I would like to see him too…
I believe there is a compelling argument for the face of our team next year. Although I am with the majority in saying Millsap is the face of this franchise, and continues to exemplify the Utah Jazz core values.
However I must cast my vote for “Big AL”. Now that he has a better understanding of our slightly altered system, he will make his presence felt. We will see him punch the clock, enforce, and then be the vanilla interview without too many soundbites for the vultures. That is a solid face for any organization, but we are lucky enough to have the big guy locked up for awhile.
Embrace Al as our “Anvil” and Hayward as our “Hammer”, with those two we will pound the opposition into submission.
We don’t currently have anyone on our roster (as least at this stage of their basketball development) that can be considered a “face of the franchise” type player. In fact, unless we get lucky in the draft, it might be a long time before we see another player of that caliber in a Jazz jersey.
But, at least for me as a fan, I’m less interested in that as I am in what kind of team the Jazz are. Corbin needs to give this team a more clear identity next training camp. Right now, this team has no identity. They aren’t the Bad Boys, or Showtime, they don’t run the triangle, or play Nellie Ball. The Jazz need to establish an indentity, and then hold everyone on the roster accountable for that style of play, no matter what it may be. Everyone has to buy in, if it’s to work. We need a firm starting five. We need a firm 8 or 9 man rotation. We need stability. Trades, injuries, and myriads of other things kept us from finding an identity last season. This offseason, Corbin has time to decide what offensive and defensive philosophies he wants to implement. The players who don’t fit into that framework shouldn’t be brought back. A style of play must be adopted, and maybe that philosophy, rather then any particular player, can become the hallmark of this franchise.
I’m with JC.
Who’s the face of the Hawks? They are beating the Magic who, as much as any other team, have one guy that everyone else is sort of second dog to. Maybe that Jordan Effect is going to finally be overcome.
Utah looks to be that kind of team, where several guys can fill multiple roles, and everybody plays for the name on the front of the jersey.
I like that sentiment JC. My favorite NBA Champions of the last 10 years were the 2004 Pistons. They dismantled the most stacked NBA team in history. in my opinion. Shaq, Kobe, The Glove, and the Betrayalman. (Still disgusted by that last one sorry Karl lovers) I have forgiven him but when speaking of him in a Lakers jersey I will refer to him as Betrayalman)
Those were four Face of the Franchise guys. Four of the NBA’s 50 greatest of all time. Who shamefully found themselves on the same team and who were even more shamefully embarrassed by a team with no clear superstar.
Ben Wallace shut down Shaq, Rasheed hit 3’s and played great in the post on both sides of the ball and provided real toughness and leadership. Tayshaun Prince was the versatile scorer/defender who helped guard Kobe and provided matchup nightmares for the Lakers. Rip Hamilton ran all over the court and forced Kobe to chase him on every possession. Chauncey hit big shot after big shot and was the clear leader on that team.
It was so satisfying to watch the blue collar Pistons walk all over the stacked Lakers. I followed the Pistons after that until Big Ben and Rasheed left. They truly were the definition of a great team with no clear cut superstar. I believe the jazz are capable of being a similar team, if their interior defense improves and they can get a true consistent leader of a point guard and a leader in the locker room, they could soon have the team with the “best starting 5 in the NBA” here’s hopin.
meant to say I like that sentiment Shockwave, but I also agree with Jason that we need to decide on a clear cut scheme and stick with it.
This has to be Al’s team…
my “Dark Horse” after next year: Devin Harris. Give the guy an off-season to figure this all out… he was an all-star, it wont shock me if it happens again.
@jaron, maybe the Jazz are capable of being a similar team than the 2004 Pistons, but we have to hire Dick LeBeau first to learn them the desire to defend as a team……. and for the record, even if i liked this Pistons team, they only won because of Karl’s injury…..
Yes please, someone teach them the desire to defend ad a team.
To Utah, its Millsap. To the world, probably Al.
Joe Johnson is the face of ATL btw. They didn’t pay him that much money to go with someone else.
to me it seems to the Jazz that its Hayward. He spoke to the crowd before the last game, he “wrote” the letter to the fans for season tickets.
I imagine they don’t really know yet but after how he finished the season they might as well ride Hayward for now.
At this moment in time, I would have to see Al as the face of the franchise. But in a couple years, I could easily see a hayward/favors tandem. They seemed to have some really good chemistry down the stretch. Every time I saw Hayward dish out to Favors for a dunk or layup and heard “Hayward to Favors” I had to think, well there’s our future. Unless something serious happens in this draft, in the future, I see Hayward and Favors being the face(s) of our Jazz team.