Welcome to SALT Lake City

Before the season started Jazz fans were looking forward to the Boston Celtics coming to Utah. But with Gordon Hayward’s injury, it lost a lot of its meaning. Personally, I didn’t expect the game to mean much, especially now with Kyrie Irving injured.

But then Gordon Monson dropped a bombshell of an article yesterday with an aggressive tweet.

Whether you like the article or not, it did what it was supposed to do, it got an emotional response and it told the truth.

Unsurprisingly, the article received a lot of attention from Boston media who are incredibly worried about how Jazz fans talk about Gordon Hayward.

Another day, another lesson from Boston media about how not to be a homer.

But the reason this article touches a nerve with Boston, and national media, is that it tells the story from Utah’s side. It doesn’t accept the feel good national narratives about Hayward’s departure.

When Hayward left he immediately got the national attention he wanted. Somehow, because he joined the Celtics, he was one of the biggest free agency pickups. When Hayward unfortunately broke his ankle he got a spot on Good Morning America. Something that would surely never have happened had he broken the ankle in a Jazz jersey.

The media attention for the Jazz was a glum look and a pat on the back. Jazz fans were expected to back away graciously with their 2000 word letter from Hayward.

But that meant Jazz fans had to be quiet about a lot of things.

It meant ignoring tampering from Brad Stevens.

It meant ignoring Hayward selling his home in May and lying to the team up until July 4th when he “made his decision.”

It meant ignoring him shutting out his teammates. Teammates who changed their play styles to fit into a system to make him happy. Teammates who lost play time because Gordon wanted players around him that fit his style. Otherwise he’d sulk in the locker room.

It meant ignoring him never calling Gail because he’s “not good at that sort of thing.”

It meant pretending he even wrote the damn letter that was ghost written by someone else.

It meant being happy that the Jazz missed out on free agents while waiting for Gordon’s “decision.”

No.

No more worrying what the national, or especially Boston, media thinks. Boston wants you to be quiet and accept everything the way they see it. If you’ve ever said anything otherwise, you’ve probably been called “salty.”

It’s time to embrace it. This is SALT lake city and it’s one of the best fan bases in the world. Win or lose, Vivint Smart Home Arena is always filled with rabid fans who are there to cheer on players that they truly love and care about.

That’s why Jazz fans get salty about Hayward. We loved him. We cheered for him. We funded the Stayward campaign. And he turned his back on it all.

This is SALT Lake City and we’ve earned the right to speak the truth whether Boston likes it or not. Nobody tells us how we should feel, either. Good for you, Boston, for getting Gordon Hayward. But just like Gordon Monson said, we’re doing just fine without him.

Yesterday, Chris Mannix dropped a podcast where he sat down with Donovan Mitchell who opened up about the draft process, Louisville and more. Give it a listen!

Ricky Rubio continues to be an incredible humanitarian.

The weather has been cold lately so it’s a great time to invest in a beanie with proceeds going to cancer research.

On top of leading a the Utah Jazz to the playoffs, Donovan Mitchell is also going to finish his degree.

Apparently Donovan has interest in becoming a broadcaster at some point. If he’s looking for a place to have some of his work published for any communication classes, I know a site that would love a guest post.

Last night was a great night for Jazz fans with playoff seeding.

-The Spurs lost to the Wizards.

-The Nuggets lost to the Raptors.

-The Pelicans lost to the Blazers.

Currently, the Jazz hold the 7th seed and are only a half game back of the 5th seed!

A win against Boston would help solidify the Jazz’s playoff chances even more and cap off what’s been an incredible season.