Nearly five years ago when blogging was taking off and the Jazz were making a run to the Western Conference final, there was a surprising lack of Jazz blogs. There were a few and had good content but none had enough updates to satiate my thirst for insight and perspective from the fan. So for reasons unknown, I decided to start up my own blog and try to post on a regular basis. What started out as a simple blogspot site moved on to my own domain at basketballjohn.com where I received the moniker of Basketball John. I just kind of went with it though it even though John isn't my real name. It was easier to assume that identity than to correct everyone. Shortly after, I was fortunate enough to be picked up by SB Nation and start SLC Dunk as part of their NBA network.
So why am I boring you to death with this? Well, it's time to retire Basketball John. I've thoroughly enjoyed building up readers, covering the Jazz and following them more than I have before in my life, and seeing this amazing community grow over the past five years. I don't know what the Internet equivalent to five years is, but it's a lot. In that time I've put in countless hours to writing, reading, and watching Jazz games. I've loved every minute of it.
Unfortunately, time is a finite resource. That's no surprise to any of you reading this. I've recently had changes in my real job that is going to require a lot more dedication and time that I currently have available. This is a good thing. It's an exciting time in my career and I can't wait to see where this takes me. More importantly, my little family is growing and becoming more involved in school, sports, and everything else that comes with fatherhood. Any free time that I have will be dedicated to them. My personal life couldn't be better. I'm looking forward to what the future brings.
With that though, I wouldn't be able to provide the same level of commitment required to run a site like SLC Dunk. Your support as a community and reader deserves the very best. That's why I'm handing over the reins to the site to Amar, Clark, Moni, and Jon. You all know them already from their posts here. They do a fantastic job. In the brief time that I've told them that I was leaving, they've put together an amazing plan to not only keep things going as they are now, but to improve and bring new things to the site.
I won't be completely disappearing. I'll be in game threads when possible and chime in if time allows. And since I'll be turning over the @slcdunk twitter handle to the new/existing team, you can find me on twitter now @5kl with my real name, Kris. I know, it's not as sexy as Basketball John, but at least I'll respond in real life now. Being called John when I met someone outside of the site always felt kind of weird.
I don't have any favorite stories on SLC Dunk that I've done other than to keep things doing as long as I have. It's a small accomplishment to me to keep something like this going this long. You don't have to have been reading or lurking here long to realize that it's the community of the site that makes this the best place on the Internet for Jazz fans. That will always be the case.
Finally, thanks to everyone. There's no way to name everyone that needs to be named. But I want to say thanks for every link, every comment, every mention, every article that I've read and grown from, every interaction, and everything that I've experienced as a result of this site. Thank to SB Nation (and Matt the one that brought me on) for giving me an audience and their support. Thanks to the NBA blogging and reporting community. It really a great brother(sister)hood of members that are willing to help one another. Thanks to the local and national beat writers that provide so much content for blogging and commentary. Thanks to the Jazz and their organization.
And thanks to my wife who becomes near to an NBA widow once the season starts.
Again, I'm not disappearing completely. Hit me up on twitter anytime to talk Jazz or whatever you'd like.
Now, get back to talking about whether this recent success the Jazz have had can continue and all things Jazz.