Top Five Achievements During The Quin Snyder Era
Jun 6, 2022, 12:50 PM | Updated: 12:54 pm
Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder hugs Donovan Mitchell after beating the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs (Deseret News: Scott G Winterton)
(Deseret News: Scott G Winterton)
SALT LAKE CITY – The Quin Snyder era with the Utah Jazz has come to an end as the coach decided to step away from the team on Sunday.
While the Jazz will immediately begin their coaching search, it’s worth recognizing the many highs from Snyder’s time in Utah.
Here are the top five moments from the Quin Snyder era with the Jazz.
1. Jazz Beat Thunder In Mitchell’s Rookie Season
Unquestionably the top moment of the Quin Snyder era in Utah came in 2018 when the Jazz stunned the Oklahoma City Thunder in the opening round of the Western Conference Playoffs.
With a fresh-faced rookie in Donovan Mitchell, Snyder and the Jazz announced they were a force to be reckoned with by ousting the higher seed that featured three first-ballot Hall of Famers in Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony.
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Snyder’s adjustment to target Anthony every time he was on the floor made him unplayable, robbing the Thunder of a key offensive weapon, and handing the Jazz one of their most impressive playoff series victories in the organization’s history.
Photos of Snyder hugging Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, and then Vice President of Basketball Operations Dennis Lindsey after the Game 6 victory are among the most famous in Jazz history and capture the highest point of Snyder’s run with the team.
2. Snyder Develops Stars
Though Snyder never got the Coach of the Year accolades he deserved, several Jazz players took home hardware under the coach’s capable guise.
Mitchell and Gobert combined to take home six All-Star appearances, while Mike Conley was named to his first All-Star game a record 14 years into his NBA career.
There it is!
14 years, and worth the wait.
Mike Conley is an All-Star!#takeNote pic.twitter.com/to574y4Fqo
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 8, 2021
Gordon Hayward also earned his lone career All-Star nod under Snyder with the Jazz.
Snyder helped turn Gobert into one of the most decorated defensive forces of all time racking up three Defensive Player of the Year awards to go along with six All-Defensive team honors, and four All-NBA appearances.
Likewise, Snyder helped Jordan Clarkson transform from a young scorer into one of the most valuable bench players in the NBA, including earning the Jazz’s first-ever Sixth Man of the Year award in 2021.
3. Best Record In NBA
While the perspective on the NBA during the COVID era may continue to change in the coming years, Snyder did lead the Jazz to the best record in the NBA during the 2020-21 season.
Even with Hall of Famers John Stockton and Karl Malone, the Jazz never owned the best record outright during their glory years in the 90s.
The @utahjazz have won the West, and own the best record in the NBA entering the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/k5ZIfTDYN0
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) May 17, 2021
Snyder coached the Jazz to an impeccable 52-20 record, despite losing Mitchell and Conley for the last month of the season, earning home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
As a result of the Jazz’s success, Snyder got to represent the Western Conference as he led Team LeBron to a 170-150 win over Team Durant.
4. Snyder Outcoaches Doc Rivers
Even before the Jazz’s impressive first-round victory over the Thunder in 2018, Snyder’s first playoff series victory came in 2018 when he helped lead the Jazz over the higher-seeded Los Angeles Clippers.
Behind Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan, the Clippers were the overwhelming favorite to beat the inexperienced Jazz in the first round of the playoffs, a tilt that shifted even further when Gobert got injured just minutes into the series opener.
Great @UtahJazz moments from the last decade.
After a Rudy Gobert injury to open game one of the playoffs, Joe Johnson carries the Jazz offense and beats the Clippers at the buzzer. #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/16BvtDS0NX
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) December 31, 2019
However, Snyder’s team under Hayward and veteran Joe Johnson stayed the course and stunned the Clippers with a Game 1 victory, before blowing LA out on their home floor in a decisive Game 7 victory.
Snyder so badly outcoached Doc Rivers and the Clippers staff in 2017 that the franchise broke up its roster that offseason.
5. Zions Bank Basketball Campus
When asked what he was most proud of during his time with the Jazz, Snyder mentioned the development of the Zion Bank Basketball Campus in Salt Lake City as one of his lasting footprints with the team.
“Metaphorically it’s a big building,” Snyder said “I’m not sure about the footprint, but having a chance even to be in here, particularly when no one’s around, a lot of pride that goes into that. I didn’t lay the bricks, there are so many other people that did that both figuratively and literally, but it is something that I feel a lot of pride in.”
Building the ZBBC showed a commitment from the team’s ownership to modernize the Jazz, but more importantly, represented an investment into Snyder’s vision on how to bring the franchise into the 21st century.
