Odds And Ends From Utah Jazz Media Day 2025
Sep 30, 2025, 3:37 PM | Updated: 3:50 pm
Utah Jazz forward Kevin Love (42) speaks to media during the Utah Jazz media day (Credit: Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News)
(Credit: Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz held their 2025 media day on Monday to signal the beginning of the new season.
While a handful of larger storylines emerged, namely Ace Bailey’s natural enthusiasm and Walker Kessler’s frustration over not signing a contract extension, several smaller details may have fallen by the wayside.
With that in mind, here are a few tidbits, factoids, and anecdotes about the 2025 Jazz roster and coaching staff from Utah Jazz media day.
Related: Walker Kessler “frustrated” over contract situation
Jazz Media Day 2025: Odds And Ends
▪️Kyle Anderson was influential in Minnesota during his two seasons with the Timberwolves. Keyonte George said he’d heard from fellow young players that the veteran had a big voice in the locker room, and that he expects a similar role from the newcomer in Utah.
▪️Though the Jazz are making a concerted effort not to make the 2025-26 season just about Ace Bailey, there’s a real buzz around both his and Walt Clayton Jr.’s presence.
In a radio interview, Will Hardy said, “Coming out of draft night, internally, we were trying not to tell everybody how excited we were because we needed to get them here, we needed to get them settled.”
Seemingly every player, young and old, raved about Bailey’s enthusiasm for the game and how unique his raw physical tools are. The 19-year-old’s unchecked excitement about being in the NBA is a breath of fresh air this Jazz team desperately needed after the toll last season took on the organization.
▪️While the Jazz have a full 15-man roster entering training camp, Mo Bamba, seemingly the team’s 16th man, should get a real shot to make the roster during the preseason. If he plays well, the Jazz can find a way to get him on the roster. If not, he could likely land with the G League Salt Lake City Stars, if he doesn’t find work elsewhere.
▪️Svi Mykhailiuk worked out with his Ukrainian trainer in Washington, D.C., over the summer, but has been impressed with Walt Clayton Jr. since returning to Salt Lake City earlier this month.
“He’s a very poised player,” Mykhailiuk said at media day. “He knows how to play basketball, and he wasn’t rushed.”
Mykhailiuk was happy to be back in Utah, having his non-guaranteed deal picked up by the Jazz in early July.
▪️Isaiah Collier vacationed in Turks and Caicos this summer, before spending time with his parents and siblings at Newport Beach. Of course, the guard also returned home to Georgia, where he worked out with Walker Kessler and Ace Bailey, both of whom have strong Atlanta ties.
▪️Steven Crowl joins the Jazz after playing for the team at Summer League. Crowl was a teammate of John Tonje for a season at Wisconsin, and both have a good shot to reunite with the Salt Lake City Stars in the G League.
▪️Kyle Filipowski was one of two Jazz players who got married this summer. Flip got married in August, after winning Summer League MVP in Las Vegas.
“His consistency of work is showing up, and the work he’s done in particular on his shooting has shown up, and it’s allowed for his other skills to shine a little bit more,” Will Hardy said of Filipowski.
▪️Brice Sensabaugh also got married during the offseason. The third-year wing’s wife is also helping him with his diet, preparing healthy alternatives to some of his favorite foods.
“If I want something sweet, it’ll be a brownie made out of cauliflower, or it’ll be zucchini mashed potatoes, or just random stuff like that,” Sensabaugh said.
The 21-year-old has lost roughly 15 pounds this offseason, dropping from 240 at the end of last season to around 225 entering camp.
▪️Though he drew significant praise this summer for his leadership over the young roster, including organizing the team’s getaway to Dallas, Keyonte George didn’t have all the answers for the Jazz rookies’ questions.
Ace Bailey called George asking how to get his Ring Doorbell for his house, and the guard didn’t have a solution.
Related: Keyonte George draws rave reviews at Utah Jazz Media Day
▪️Taylor Hendricks said his jumping ability returned almost immediately once he was cleared to retake the floor after his injury. It was the quick-twitch athleticism that was slower to return.
Jusuf Nurkic cautioned at media day that Hendricks shouldn’t rush back if he doesn’t feel fully confident in his leg. The new Jazz center suffered a similarly gruesome injury in 2019 and felt like he was being asked to return in Portland before he felt comfortable.
Bizarrely, COVID-19 shut down the NBA as the center was preparing to make his return to the court, giving him an extra four months to complete his rehab.
▪️Ace Bailey has two dogs now, a Yorkie named Prince and a bulldog named Halo.
🏔️ @AiriousB will wear #19 🏔️#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/dB8WBFbjpE
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) June 30, 2025
▪️Lauri Markkanen and Kevin Love have a long history, competing against one another in the Eastern Conference for several years before being teammates for one season with the Cavaliers.
Markkanen said he and Love practiced on the same basket in Cleveland, allowing him to pick the veteran’s brain.
Love said he’s been a fan of Markkanen’s since early in his career, and pulled the Finnish forward aside early in his Chicago days, telling him he had a real chance to make it in the NBA.
▪️Will Hardy said that in high school, his AAU team played Kevin Love’s So-Cal All-Star team in the mid-2000s. Love’s AAU team is celebrated as one of the greatest prep rosters of all time.
Featuring future NBA players, including Brandon Jennings, Taj Gibson, and Chase Budinger, Love’s team went a perfect 45-0.
Love admitted he didn’t remember playing Hardy specifically, but said, “I know one thing is for certain, they lost.”
Kevin Love is all smiles in his first official day with the @utahjazz. #TakeNote | @KSLSportsZone pic.twitter.com/FKl3H5paOI
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) September 29, 2025
▪️Camp invitee Matthew Murrell agreed to sign with the Jazz shortly after going unselected in the 2025 NBA Draft. The Ole Miss product was unable to play at Summer League as he was rehabbing from knee surgery, but his healthy now.
▪️In a truly amazing accomplishment, Georges Niang is embarking on the 10th year of his career this season with the Jazz.
Niang will become one of only 235 players in league history to play at least 10 seasons in the league despite being drafted in the second round or later. Ivica Zubac and Malcolm Brogdon will also reach the feat this season from Niang’s draft class.
▪️Oscar Tshiebwe noted that rookie John Tonje would not stop running around the floor when the team was playing during open gym. Tonje is going to have to be a knockdown shooter to stick in the NBA, and shooting off movement will only improve his chances.
Tshiebwe showed up to media day in a very dapper blue suit, a white Western button-up shirt, and a dashing black cowboy hat.
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▪️Brice Sensabaugh said Devin Booker and Caris LeVert were two of the most difficult players he’s had to guard in the NBA. LeVert is not a name you hear often in those types of conversations.
▪️Cody Williams’ dedication to eating has clearly paid off, though there is still considerable room to grow. The second-year wing looked noticeably stronger at media day, but don’t be surprised if he still looks like the thinnest player on the floor in most games.
▪️Will Hardy’s daughters got nightmares from watching “KPop Demon Hunters,” so unlike some households with young children, the streaming sensation wasn’t on 24/7 in the coach’s household this summer. He did acknowledge that the music was still a favorite of his girls over the summer.
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Ben Anderson is the Utah Jazz insider for KSL Sports and the co-host of Jake and Ben from 10-12p with Jake Scott on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. Find Ben on Twitter at @BensHoops, on Instagram @BensHoops, or on BlueSky.
