Utah Jazz sophomore Keyonte George understands that playing heavy minutes comes with a lot of responsibility.
(via Utah Jazz):
“I can definitely pinpoint a time, the Golden State game (last year), where there’s been plenty of times where I thought I was gon’ come out, and almost playing the whole second half I think. But, that’s been another part of my development. I think Will [Hardy] texts me every six days telling me to get in shape, and he sees me come in here and run every day. But, that’s definitely been a big emphasis. Obviously we’ve got our guy Lauri [Markkanen] back, so now it’s time to take that jump. And for me, my whole thing for the summer was take that jump for the older guys. I don’t want to go through what we went through last year: have ups and downs. I’m trying to stay level-headed.
“But Will, he definitely did prepare me. He kinda let the message be known at the end of the year that this is a role that you need to step into, and really just accept it. I think JC [Jordan Clarkson] has done a good job also talking to me as far as stepping into that skin. That’s what he said as far as accepting it, and then just be that, what Will wants me to be: the constant communication between me and Will, communication with the team, communication with Lauri. Just taking that jump in every aspect. So the message was loud and clear, and this summer I definitely took it upon myself to really listen to that message and apply it to my game and really prepare myself for this year.”
