Isaiah Collier is having a rough rookie season for the Utah Jazz. That team stinks real bad: After a cute 2022–23 season of pretending not to tank under then-new team CEO Danny Ainge, the Jazz have decided to suck shit for a while, and entered Sunday's home tilt against the Brooklyn Nets with the second-worst record in the Western Conference. They'll get down to the bottom soon enough, provided Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans can stay ambulatory for a few weeks. Collier, who was taken by the Jazz with the 29th pick in the 2024 draft, is certainly doing his part.
Collier came to the Jazz from USC, where as a hotshot one-and-done freshman he shared the spotlight with Bronny James on a distressingly Fortnite-coded operation, earning with his chaotic and eyeball-searingly unethical style of play a reputation as someone you dearly hope will never wear the jersey of your favorite professional hoops team. Collier entered Sunday's home game against the Brooklyn Nets shooting 32 percent from the floor and 16 percent on three-pointers, and turning the ball over on more than a third of his possessions. Attention to detail is not yet a strength of his game. This all suits the purposes of a team that wants to lose, even if it sometimes drives his coach and veteran teammates to hysterics.
Losing on purpose in the West isn't very hard. Losing on purpose to the Brooklyn Nets takes doing, especially when the Nets make the call pregame to sit all four of their top scorers, leaving the burden of putting the ball into the basket to the likes of Ziaire Williams, Tosan Evbuomwan, and the dreaded Ben Simmons. The Jazz, not to be out-sabotaged, sat Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, Jordan Clarkson, Keyonte George, and Walker Kessler, or five of the six players on their roster who average at least 10 points per appearance. Truly, my heart bleeds for anyone who spent money to attend this game. That it went to overtime is pretty close to direct evidence of the existence of demons.
Collier helped with that, too, and not only by putting up the best numbers of his professional career. The Nets had a good look at a game-winner inside the final minute of regulation, when Simmons passed out of traffic to a wide-open Tyrese Martin in the corner. Martin took a long look at it and then fired up a three-pointer that clanged off the front of the rim. Drew Eubanks hauled in the rebound for the Jazz and was pressured by Noah Clowney. Listen: There are going to be some very obscure names in this recap. Eubanks waited for Clowney to retreat and then handed it back to Collier, standing near the baseline. The shot clock had already lost three seconds, leaving Collier to hustle the ball into the front-court. Collier's veteran teammate, Collin Sexton, called for a pass, but was waved off. Perhaps the exchange distracted Collier, who slowly walked the ball up the floor. You see where this is going:
Sexton, who will almost certainly finish this season someplace else, was super pissed about the self-inflicted eight-second violation, and even possibly heartbroken. Some hoops fans will undoubtedly consider this to have been a hasty whistle by the referee. It is true that by tradition most NBA referees do not whistle an eight-second violation until the number 15 shows on the shot clock. I find this incredibly annoying. Say aloud the number 23 and mark a hash on a piece of paper, to show that one second has passed. Continue in this fashion, counting down aloud and marking one hash for every number that you speak. When you reach the number 16, count how many hashes you have marked. The number is eight, showing that eight seconds have passed. I realize this is a losing battle. Collier at least is willing to admit that this was not an instance of a player expecting that extra second. "Not paying attention to the clock," he explained after the game. "Rookie mistake. Simple as that."
The Nets had another great chance to win it. On the ensuing possession, Simmons beat a clumsy switch with a quick dribble move and drove into the paint. When the last man back stepped in to cut off his path, Simmons lobbed a ball to his right, where it was grabbed by a soaring Nic Claxton. It wasn't a perfect pass, but this is a play you expect to be finished with a basket. Claxton, perhaps worrying about the clock, attempted to gather and throw it down in one motion, one-handed, and bricked the dunk. The ensuing scramble for the ball ate up most of the remainder of regulation, and the game went to extras.
Here is where Collier made an even bigger gaffe.
With six seconds left, Collier split a trap, raced into the paint, and dropped in a lovely layup, forcing the Jazz to increase their total of wins on the season. Rookies are just the worst.
