Vindicated, Chumps

Still looks like good moves, eh? I'm still a fair-weather fan, aren't I? Ha ha to everyone who moaned about my letter to the Jazz, it's great to be 5-11 under Corbin, isn't it? Favors and Harris have REALLLLLLY panned out well, haven't they? That multi-year extension to Coach Ty was brilliant, wasn't it? And D-Will has played pretty bad in Jersey, hasn't he? You tell me: How does a GM dismantle and destory a team and keep his job? For those of you naysayers who work (judging by the lack of intelligent comments, not many of you out there), if you did to a company what Kevin OC has done to the Jazz, would you still have a job?

Utah Jazz Formal Complaint Letter

Jazz Fans On HoldXXXX XXXX Provo, UT 84601

24 February 2011
Attn: Mr. Kevin O’Connor
General Manager
CC: Mr. Greg Miller
Owner
Utah Jazz
301 W. South Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84101

Dear Mr. O’Connor,

We, the undersigned, are writing to express our disgust and sadness with the direction you and Mr. Miller have taken the Utah Jazz in the past 24 months. We will address our grievances below. We have also attached to this letter receipts of Utah Jazz merchandise and tickets we have purchased in the last 60 days. We bought these items in good faith, expecting a team and organization which would live up to Utah Jazz values of times past, namely competitiveness, teamwork, hard work, and, in general, a well-run organization. It has become evident over the past month that the Utah Jazz of old are no more. As such, we would request a reimbursement of the monies we have paid towards a product we did not receive as expected. Also as such, we regret to inform you that we are revoking our Utah Jazz fanhood until major changes are made in Management, namely, the Utah Jazz show the community their renewed desire to win and compete for an NBA championship, as the late Mr. Larry H. Miller vowed and sought for, rather than simply shed payroll and remain mediocre. Please respond with our reimbursement check and see grievances below:

-Trading Eric Maynor to the Oklahoma City Thunder on December 22^nd, 2009

-Trading Ronnie Brewer to the Memphis Grizzlies on February 18^th, 2010, thus upsetting team chemistry and causing Deron Williams to publicly question your decision making and will to win

-Making no move to trade Carlos Boozer during the 2010 season, although Boozer made it clear he would not remain with the team, thus allowing Boozer to sign with the Chicago Bulls in the offseason and leaving the Jazz with (virtually) nothing

-Failing to re-sign Kyle Korver after he publicly announced he would prefer to stay in Utah long-term; also, Korver set the NBA season record for 3 point accuracy. Letting him walk has created a major void at the wing position and has left the Utah Jazz unable to stretch the floor. Korver signed with the Chicago Bulls at a very fair price (3 years, $15 million) which the Jazz could have easily matched.

-Allowing Jazz owner Greg Miller to publicly pronounce the Jazz to be a drain on family finances and that winning an NBA championship will always be secondary to the almighty dollar.

-Failing to sign Wesley Matthews to a contract throughout his rookie season, then failing to match Portland’s offer to him after the season. Matthews should have been signed to a deal much smaller than the one Portland offered him before he was ever eligible for free agency.

-Failing to address growing inner-team tension, made clear several times by Deron Williams’ public comments about Management and culminating in losing the Utah Jazz identity (Jerry Sloan) and potential Hall of Fame guard (Williams) in 13 days. These issues are further addressed below.

-Allowing Deron Williams to so disrupt and upset team chemistry that NBA legend and Hall of Fame coach Jerry Sloan and assistant coach and former NBA Coach of the Year Phil Johnson walked out on the team mid-season in very undignified fashion. Jerry and Phil have done more for Utah Jazz basketball than anyone else (save Larry H. Miller, Karl Malone, and John Stockton) and were treated very unceremoniously through Management undermining their leadership and authority.

-Trading All-Star point guard Deron Williams to New Jersey for the very same pieces Denver had rejected for seven months, namely Devin Harris, a mediocre point guard, and Derrick Favors, a rookie averaging 8 points and 5 rebounds who plays a position (Power Forward) at which the Jazz are already overloaded, also a high pick in an upcoming draft ESPN is predicting to be the weakest in 10+ years. As a side note, if the Utah Jazz choose to draft Jimmer Fredette in the upcoming draft (which would look to be solely a move for publicity and to fill seats), we revoke our Jazz fanhood permanently. Although we understand Williams may have become a team cancer or chemistry-killer, we remain convinced that the NBA’s best point guard should have merited much, much more in a trade, whether that trade was made now or by next year’s trade deadline.

Mr. O’Connor, please know how much the Jazz mean to us individually and how deeply this hurts us to be put in this position. We wept with joy at “John Stockton sends the Utah Jazz to the NBA finals!” and wept with sadness at Malone’s missed free throws and the “flu game.” Few things outside family and friends mean more to us than the Utah Jazz, but we cannot continue to support an organization in this present condition.

Signed,