Utah Jazz mailbag: Suggestions for making it through the COVID-19 sports break

Sarah Todd poses for a photo at the Deseret News in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2019. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — Just because most of us are isolated and most of the world, including sports, have come to a standstill doesn’t mean that everything has to stop. I still plan on answering your questions every week and giving you as much insight as possible.

How are you handling the fact that everything's been taken from us, with no sign of their return in sight and leaving us with nothing to look forward to? What keeps you going? I just need anything right now. #EarlyJazzMailbag

— Adam Ray King (@CrimsonMonarch8) March 23, 2020

I’m not going to lie about the fact that things have been difficult, and yes, it can be completely disheartening to think about the fact that we might be months away from things returning to normal. I, like many of you, am experiencing life without sports for the first time and as someone who has made a career out of sports, it’s extremely strange.

What keeps me going is knowing that eventually, no matter how far away that is, we will start to see life normalized, and when we get to that point I think we will all have a deeper appreciation for the things in life that make us happy. It’s also encouraging to see all of the ways that people are coming together and the selfless acts that are being demonstrated across the globe to try to help those in need. It’s hard to stay disheartened for too long when you see the good in humanity.

I know that in the grand scheme of things that sports is not necessarily the most important thing, especially in the wake of a global crisis, but sports bring people together and offer moments of joy and escape that will be welcomed relief in the future. In the meantime, the NBA has offered up their streaming service, NBA League Pass, for free while NBA play is suspended. If you are craving some basketball in your life, go to NBA.com/scores and choose a game to watch. That’s been a helpful respite for me during this whole thing.

Outside of that, read a good book, go for a walk, watch a movie, binge a show. I’m doing all of the above.

If the NBA decides to cancel the season altogether, who would your choices be for end of year awards, MVP, DPOY, etc.? — Thomas F.

I’ve said before that I do not vote for the year-end awards because I think it’s unfair as a beat writer to decide things about players that I haven’t spent the year watching. But, as this is an unprecedented time and my opinion here isn’t going to impact anything, why not wildly speculate, right?

I’ll keep it short and sweet with a small bit of explanation.

Most Valuable Player: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Defensive Player of the Year: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Rookie of the Year: Ja Morant
Most Improved Player: Jayson Tatum
Sixth Man of the Year: Dennis Schroder

Antetokounmpo is having a historically amazing season on a historically great team on both ends of the floor and should be rewarded for what he has been able to do. There will be some discussion of whether or not Zion Williamson should be considered for ROY, but with his extended injury absence to start the season, the award should go to Morant. There are a lot of people that could be considered and have a great case for Sixth Man, including Pascal Siakam, Luka Doncic and Brandon Ingram, but it’s just my opinion that Tatum’s evolution and ability to step up while improve has been the most impactful overall. I understand that Siakam has a good case, but I feel like with Kawhi Leonard leaving that usage and opportunity was bound to go to someone in Toronto a little more than in other cases. That’s not a knock against Siakam, just part of my rationale. I think that the hodge-podge situation in Oklahoma City and the lack of expectation has made them an incredibly fun team this year and Schroder has been exceptional in a sixth-man role for them.

What has impressed you about both the Jazz organization as a whole, and the team itself in comparison to the other teams you've covered. Is there anything you miss (organizationally speaking) from the former teams?

— Parker アンドラス (@pcandrus13) March 23, 2020

Honestly, coming off of two seasons covering the 76ers where a lot of my coverage had very little to do with what was happening on the basketball court and instead was about a general manager with connections to social media burner accounts, a mysterious injury to a No. 1 draft pick that caused him to forget how to shoot a basketball, continuous drama within the organization, questions about the medical staff and much much more, it’s nice to come to a franchise that is relatively secure throughout so my coverage can focus on basketball.

You see alot of sneakers in your line of work are you into sneakers?

— mike mcmillen (@TheWarchief33) March 23, 2020

I am around a lot of sneakers and while I have a great appreciation for sneakerheads, I have a very niche obsession that is not Jordan or basketball related. Growing up in California and hanging around a lot of skaters, I started wearing Vans early on. I think that, along with being around a ton of sneakerheads, created a very specific type of monster.

I have a very extensive collection of Vans of all types. High-tops, low-tops, classics and everything in between, including limited editions and custom designs. I’m embarrassed really about how much space in my closet, under my bed and in storage containers is taken up by Vans. But even through the embarrassment, it’s something that I love.

Milk chocolate chips or semi-sweet chips in a chocolate chip cookie?

— Jeff Niebergall (@J_niebs92) March 23, 2020

This is not going to be the first time that I have alienated myself with a food-related question in the mailbag and I’m sure it won’t be the last.

I love cookie dough and I don’t care what kind of chips are in it. But I do not like chocolate chip cookies once they are baked. I’m actually not a huge fan of chocolate. Sorry.

Do you consider Harry Potter and the Cursed Child an actual part of the story?

— Joshua Vincent (@jazzfanjosh) March 23, 2020

Not canon.

If you would like to have your question answered, you can send it to me at stodd@deseretnews.com with “mailbag” in the subject line, or you can send it to me via Twitter @NBASarah with the hashtag #SundayJazzMailBag.

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