DENVER (AP) 鈥� A year ago, Mike Conley Jr. was on a team mentioned as a championship contender. This year, the Utah Jazz aren't in that conversation.
That doesn't change Conley's approach.
鈥淲e're trying to win every day," Conley said.
So far, the Jazz are winning more days than not. And two weeks into the NBA season, there are some surprises 鈥� some good, some bad, with the Jazz finding themselves on the more fun side of that ledger.
Conley and the Jazz are off to a 6-2 start after Monday's win over Memphis. Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs are 5-2, which matches the team's best start since they were 6-1 on the way to winning the NBA title in the 2013-14 season.
If the Jazz and Spurs were tanking, they鈥檙e definitely doing it wrong.
Not even the lure of landing the winning lottery ticket that will provide 7-foot-3 French teen Victor Wembanyama 鈥� who has skills often compared to Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Dirk Nowitzki 鈥� is enough to get the Jazz and Spurs to try and not win. Quite the contrary. They're playing hard, playing the right way, playing defense and it's working.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e young enough they don鈥檛 know any better,鈥� of his squad. 鈥淭hey just keep playing hard. ... They鈥檙e pretty much obeying the basketball gods, doing all the simple things that help win games.鈥�
They should be feeling pretty happy in a couple other cities, too. Cleveland was 5-1 entering Monday, as was Portland. On the flip side of the surprise coin 鈥� Brooklyn was 2-5, the Los Angeles Lakers started 0-5 before getting their first win, and Miami is 2-5 entering a game Tuesday against Golden State. The reigning champs aren鈥檛 exactly setting the world ablaze either, off to a 3-4 start.
It鈥檚 early. There鈥檚 almost a whole season left to go. But San Antonio and Utah are surprising just about everybody so far 鈥� well, everybody except themselves.
鈥淲e just do our job,鈥� Conley said. 鈥淎t the end of the day, it doesn鈥檛 matter what people say.鈥�
It wasn't uncommon to think the Jazz and Spurs might be among the teams that vie to be among the odds-on favorites for Wembanyama (the bottom three teams each to land the No 1 pick). The Spurs are extremely young and feature a lineup consisting of hardly household names. The Jazz spent the summer trading away three of their biggest pieces in Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert and Bojan Bogdanovic.
鈥淔or some reason, the league goes, 鈥極h, Utah is tanking because they got rid of Donovan and Rudy and Bogdanovic,鈥欌�� Nuggets coach Michael Malone recently said. 鈥淭ell Mike Conley that. Tell Jordan Clarkson that. Tell Lauri Markkanen that. Those guys are NBA players and have played in a lot of big games. They鈥檙e playing hard. They鈥檙e getting out and running and they鈥檙e defending.鈥�
Credit should go to Utah coach Will Hardy, who was mentored by Popovich. Among the lessons Hardy picked up from Popovich 鈥� his former boss in San Antonio, before Hardy spent last season as an assistant in Boston 鈥� was the art of fostering relationships.
鈥淗e taps into that human element very, very well,鈥� said Hardy, who spent 11 seasons with Popovich and the Spurs, including five as an assistant coach. 鈥淔or all of his greatness from an X's-and-O's standpoint or an in-game coaching standpoint, it鈥檚 all the stuff he does in-between games, on the human side, that for me separates him.鈥�
Hardy's team has quickly picked up on the building cohesion part. An illustration: The Jazz all recently gathered in a room in New Orleans during a trip and 鈥渏ust chilled, and had fun,鈥� explained Malik Beasley, who was acquired as . On plane rides, they've been known meet in a group to chat and break down game film.
鈥淲e have a great vibe," . "It鈥檚 going to be fun to go to where we want to go to.鈥�
Which, so far, is north in the standings, not south.
鈥淲e鈥檙e tired of people being surprised,鈥� Beasley said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a good team, too."
The Jazz remain a huge longshot to win the NBA title this season, according to . The same applies to Orlando, Oklahoma City, Indiana, Houston, Sacramento, Detroit and San Antonio. All of those clubs are the ones expected to be in the running for the No. 1 pick and the chance at Wembanyama.
Not that the Spurs and Jazz have been paying any attention. Or caring what others believe. Popovich has a bunch of kids playing like seasoned vets.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think they even know what the capital of Texas is,鈥� Popovich cracked. 鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 care."
Added Spurs guard/forward , who was part of the team that won Olympic gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021: 鈥淲e鈥檙e playing great team basketball. We鈥檙e making each other better. It鈥檚 fun playing basketball that way.鈥�
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AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds and AP freelance writer Mike Cranston contributed.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Pat Graham, The Associated Press
