There’s no one in the NBA like Joe Ingles

Joe Ingles is truly one of a kind. You can search high and low, far and wide, and you are probably not going to find another basketball player (and maybe even human in general) like him on planet Earth. Everything about him as an NBA player is unorthodox. Where he came from, his journey to the league, the way he shoots, his appearance, his pre-game outfits, his accent, his trash talk. etc, etc, etc. Joe Ingles is the furthest thing from your typical NBA player, and that is what makes him so beautiful, and so beloved by the Utah Jazz and its fanbase.

People on the national stage have started to catch on to the unique personality of Joe Ingles, as he’s continued to get increased exposure as his NBA season progresses. Just recently, Ingles sat down with ESPN Senior Writer Zach Lowe on his popular podcast ‘The Lowe Post’. This is the second time that Ingles had joined Lowe on the podcast in the last few seasons, and just like last time, it did not disappoint.

Ingles and Lowe discussed many important subjects, and this is a must-listen for Jazz fans and actually for all basketball fans in general. The two discuss Ingles’ background as a basketball player, how he made it from fighting for playing time in EuroLeague to kickstarting the hottest team in the NBA this season. Lowe unintentionally roasted Ingles about the lack of dunks being a 6-7 NBA athlete, of which Ingles defended himself claiming “it’s harder that it looks”. Lowe also asked Ingles about his unique skill set in a league that features some of the most athletic people in the world. He also accused Alex Caruso of stealing his “headband gesture” which presents a very valid points. There’s a bunch of great content in their sitdown. After the podcast recording in New York, Ingles got back to doing what he does best, and that’s jingling guys on the basketball court.

The Jazz won their 10th in a row Tuesday night in Brooklyn, in a tough game facing a team getting their star player back in Kyrie Irving. Fresh off recording the podcast with Zach Lowe, Ingles dropped a classic. He tied a career-high with 27 points on 6-8 shooting from three, and gave the Jazz the boost they needed just like he has several times in the last couple of weeks.

It was a vintage Joe Ingles game. He even gave us the notorious ball fake lefty layup THAT HE HAD JUST TALKED ABOUT ON THE PODCAST.

Listening to the podcast and watching Joe Ingles do his thing on the court in the same day made for quite the amazing experience. This game the other night basically summarized how the last chunk of games has gone for Joe Ingles for the Utah Jazz. The Jazz are riding a league-leading 10-game winning streak, and won 15 of their last 16 games. They’ve climbed their way up in the standings in the Western Conference, and currently sit tied with the Nuggets for the two seed. So what changed in the Jazz after that brutal stretch in November-December when they lost 6 of 8? It was a combination of a few things, but one of them stands out from the rest: it was Joe Ingles.

Ingles started the season coming off the bench with the newly-acquired Mike Conley and Bojan Bogdanovic getting their spots. Ingles off the bench just didn’t work out well for he or the Jazz. During this opening stretch coming off the bench, Ingles shot 30% from three through the first 22 games. He never seemed to develop any rhythm in the pick-and-roll with the second-unit bigs. He didn’t seem like Joe.

Mike Conley injured his hamstring and Ingles was injected back into the starting lineup on December 4th, and that’s where things started to go better for both he and the Jazz.

He’s doing everything we’re used to seeing him do, and more. He’s splashing threes at a league-leading rate. He’s found a groove with Rudy Gobert that has helped put Gobert on the All-Star radar. He’s blowing kisses to opposing fans, and talking smack at an all-time high. Right now, Joe is jinglin’ and it’s amazing to witness.

When Joe Ingles signed his lucrative extension with the Jazz in 2017, he pledged that he’d be the same person before and after the money. He’s kept his promise. He and his wife Renae have helped underprivileged kids in both the Salt Lake area and their native Australian neighborhoods. They’ve also been huge at raising awareness for children with autism after their son Jacob was diagnosed years ago. Most recently, Joe was included in the Australian basketball players that donated $750,000 to the wildfire relief efforts in Australia. He’s made good use of his professional NBA earnings, and that makes him unique in its own sort of way.

With Mike Conley hopefully returning from injury soon, we don’t really know what’s going to happen with the starting lineup and Joe Ingles’ spot in the rotation. For now, I recommend we simply enjoy this incredible tear that Ingles is on, and how fortunate Jazz fans are to have him on our squad.

Here’s a few awesome compilations just for fun: