I'm an old fart at this point. I've been a Jazz fan for almost 30 years now. Looking at it realistically, it's been a good, and more importantly fun, ride. Sure, there was heartbreak along the way. Sure, if you're from the zoomer generation and shout "Rangzzzz!" to end any basketball-related discussion, you might say it's been disappointing overall because there was no championship.
I have no complaints, though. I do hope the Jazz win the championship before I die, but it's not the be all and end all. Some of you are older than me so you'll appreciate the little table below. I was born a few months before the 83-84 season started. The current season is the 40th season since. These are the Jazz records over those years. I've pro-rated all the shortened seasons and I've prorated the current one assuming that the Jazz stay at .500.
The Jazz have won fewer than 41 games only five times and fewer than 38 only twice. That's pretty freaking amazing. Only two seasons in 40 years you could say were objectively and horrifyingly abject. And I gotta confess, those two are the seasons where I watched the least Jazz basketball. One of them led to Willy and the other to DedEx so it's kinda 50/50 as to whether the horrible stuff was even worth it.
What was worth it was that the Jazz provided something to cheer for in 38 out of the last 40 seasons. 38 out of the last 40 years, there was something to play for and something to hope for in March. That's pretty special, I'd say. In a league where only a dozen teams have won it all since I became a Jazz fan, that's not bad. I get the appeal of hoping for a generational star you can build a dynasty around through tanking, but that's happened how many times?
Once again, a Jazz team supposed to win about 20 games has far exceeded those expectations. The team is having fun, Lauri is balling, rookies are showing more promise than I thought they would, and there is a veritable treasure trove of picks. How could this season possibly not be a success?