How Jazz HC Will Hardy Became a Favorite for Coach of the Year

New Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy is raising eyebrows around the NBA, and the oddsmakers are taking note. With 6-1 odds, Hardy is the early favorite to win Coach of the Year, according to unibet.com. 

Willie Green of the New Orleans Pelicans is also listed at 6-1, while J.B. Bickerstaff of the Cleveland Cavaliers came in at third with 8-1 odds. Hardy was a dark horse to land the Utah job when the interviewing began. 

Through a combination of acing the interview and having ties to executive Danny Ainge from their time in Boston, the Jazz brain trust made Hardy the youngest coach in the NBA. Hardy made a name for himself when he was chosen to be part of the staff that led the 2020 USA Olympic team to the gold medal.

On The Last Call podcast with Jamison Christian, Hardy talked about how that experience helps him today.

“The worst we can have as coaches is infinite time because we can go all over the place and we can come up with 100 different things we can go over as a team," Hardy said. “I think that experience challenged us every day, where we don't have unlimited practice time before these games. It was fun to be in those coaches' meetings and be part of the group trying to distill it all down to these are the 2-3 things that are most important.”

Hardy has taken a team that oddsmakers had projected to win 25 games this season and turned it into a squad that has entered into the playoff conversation. It's not just the 6-3 record that's turning heads, but Utah has five wins against four projected playoff teams (Minnesota, Denver, New Orleans, and two against Memphis).

Utah tried hard to get ex-Jazz coach Quin Snyder to stick around, but in hindsight, that never coming to fruition was a blessing in disguise.

What's on everybody's mind now is whether the purported 'tank' still on. There's too much talent on this roster to be a bottom-five team, and unless there’s a decision to trade some of the key contributors like Jordan Clarkson, Malik Beasley, Mike Conley, or Kelly Olynyk, expect the Jazz to make a run at a playoff spot.

The next game is Friday when the Jazz go on the road to face the Los Angeles Lakers at 8:30 pm MDT.