Kragthorpe: Jazz have a good story to tell free agents ... if Gordon Hayward...
Gordon Hayward helped make Utah attractive to veteran Joe Johnson in free agency last summer. He’s a symbol of the Jazz’s ability to develop players. He’s already being credited for motivating...
View ArticleKragthorpe: Wasatch Mountain Golf Course is still a beauty after 50 years
Midway If one of the the finalists in a community contest to name the venue had been selected 50 years ago, Utah’s most popular public golf course would be known as Mountain Park or Valley View....
View ArticleKragthorpe: Runner-up finish will drive Jazz’s Rudy Gobert to bigger things
Rudy Gobert’s 25th birthday gifts were the right mix of validation and motivation. The Jazz center was a nearly unanimous choice for the NBA’s All-Defensive Team, but he finished a distant second in...
View ArticleKragthorpe: By publicizing his struggles, Tanner Mangum may accomplish more...
Provo Steve Young went into the Pro Football Hall of Fame with an anxiety disorder known only to those within his circle. Tanner Mangum has gone public with his condition during his BYU football...
View ArticleKragthorpe: Utahns' self-image is too closely tied to Gordon Hayward
If Gordon Hayward goes elsewhere, Utahns should not take his move personally. Professionally, though? Hayward's departure would be a big loss for the Jazz, ripping away at the core of the franchise's...
View ArticleKragthorpe: Jazz’s trade for Ricky Rubio is a move GM Dennis Lindsey had to...
The Jazz traded Enes Kanter for Ricky Rubio, so how could anyone not endorse this deal? All of this stuff is more complicated, especially when everything the Jazz are doing lately is supposed to...
View ArticleKragthorpe: Ex-BYU star Danny Ainge fighting with Jazz for Gordon Hayward
Boston Celtics patriarch Red Auerbach always loved his one-word label for players like Danny Ainge: “instigator.” No better description could exist for Ainge, a polarizing player in Utah in his...
View ArticleKragthorpe: Could the Jazz miss the playoffs if Gordon Hayward is gone?
Part of Gordon Hayward’s dilemma about staying with the Jazz or moving to the NBA’s Eastern Conference involves the level of competition in the West and how the path to the NBA Finals would be much...
View ArticleKragthorpe: Worries about Gordon Hayward’s future pervade Jazz summer league
As Boston rookie Jayson Tatum launched the winning shot against Philadelphia, Celtics executive Danny Ainge stood in the Huntsman Center tunnel, talking into his phone while being surrounded by Jazz...
View ArticleKragthorpe: Gordon Hayward’s messy breakup with Jazz will be tough to overcome
The vigil started in late September, when I reminded Gordon Hayward that everything he said or did would be studied over the next nine months for clues about his future with the Jazz. Hayward just...
View ArticleKragthorpe: Jazz try to move on without Gordon Hayward, but it’s not easy
The next day, the Jazz’s old No. 20 appeared at the Huntsman Center during the Utah Summer League, greeting fans and remembering his good times in Salt Lake City. Bobby Hansen’s alumni visit Wednesday...
View ArticleKragthorpe: Gordon Hayward’s timing really leaves Utah Jazz in a lurch in...
The Jazz’s defeat came in the 92nd hour of free agency, the NBA’s equivalent of stoppage time. Gordon Hayward’s move to Boston was tough enough for the Jazz to absorb. His strategy of not deciding...
View ArticleKragthorpe: Baseball's 'voices' tell the stories in BYU graduate's book...
BYU graduate Kirk McKnight loved visiting Major League Baseball stadiums in his youth. He once thought a guide to the ballparks would be fun to write, but that's been done. And then he thought of...
View ArticleKragthorpe: Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell has the talk to back up his game,...
Everyone is telling me to keep summer league basketball in perspective and not get too excited about Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell, but that’s not easy. The unavoidable first impression of this guy is...
View ArticleKragthorpe: Rudy Gobert sounds like he’s ready to lead the Jazz to a...
Rudy Gobert’s words came at just the right time, comforting people in need. That’s a fair description for the Jazz fan base, which has been reeling from losing Gordon Hayward to the Boston Celtics in...
View ArticleKragthorpe: Gordon Hayward begins life as a Celtic, and tries to clean up...
Gordon Hayward finally became a Celtic, only not in Boston. A week after arriving in Boston and being pictured shopping for a discount suit and a designer haircut, then being sent home while the...
View ArticleKragthorpe: Who cares if the Jazz have a boring offense, so long as they win?
The Jazz received some validation in June when center Rudy Gobert was named to the NBA’s All-Defensive Team. The Jazz have gone to a whole other level in July. They’ve become their own version of an...
View ArticleKragthorpe: Timing is the only trouble with Man U’s visit to Utah, limiting...
Sandy Manchester United’s American tour will continue with games against international powers Manchester City, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. Instead of being treated to another of those clubs Monday...
View ArticleKragthorpe: Big Sky football teams want to show they can hang with Utah, BYU...
Rice-Eccles Stadium stood empty Tuesday afternoon when North Dakota football coach Bubba Schweigert and defensive back Cole Reyes visited a venue they know will look and sound a lot different in six...
View ArticleKragthorpe: Cancer fight continues for Sara Hill, wife of Weber State...
The problem with this subject is it never really fits into a nice, tidy package. Not that I should be complaining, because I'm not among those who are directly affected by Sara Hill's illness. The...
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