Why were some Jazz players missing on the bench in the second half against the Blazers?

The Utah Jazz had a plan in place for their preseason finale against the Portland Trail Blazers. They knew that some of their heavy minute players were only going to play in the first half, allowing for more of the young players and end-of-bench guys to get some extra run before the 2024-25 regular season starts.

The fact that Lauri Markkanen, Jordan Clarkson, Walker Kessler, Keyonte George, John Collins and Patty Mills didn’t play in the second half was not a surprise. But when they didn’t come out from the locker room after halftime, and weren’t seen on the bench for several minutes into the third quarter, fans started to speculate.

Was there already trouble in paradise? Before the season has even started?!

The reason that it was easy for some to jump to conclusions about a post-halftime, players-only meeting or squabble of some sort was in large part due to the team’s first-half performance. The Jazz went into halftime completely outmatched and embarrassed, trailing, 60-33, with more turnovers than field goals scored.

So, after the poor outing against the Blazers, many Jazz faithful were left wondering what was going on behind closed doors.

Well, if it’s drama you’re looking for, you’ve come to the wrong place — at least for today. It turns out that the Jazz players who knew they weren’t going to see second-half action on Friday night, hit the weight room to get a little extra work in while the rest of the roster handled things on the court.

“They were lifting weights,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said, smirking a bit at the wild speculation that happened on Friday night. “While they were still warm we had the (players) lift weights and then come out to the bench. It wasn’t because they were protesting or whatever everyone thought they were doing.”

While that seemed like a reasonable explanation to me, the Jazz beat reporter, it did make me realize that fans might not know just how much off-court workouts happen before, sometimes during, and after NBA games.

I think fans are pretty familiar with players getting treatment or going through stretching after a game or sometimes going back out to the court to get up some extra shots, but a number of players are in the weight room and going through strenuous training exercises before and after games.

Clarkson and Collin Sexton are very often on an exercise bike during the game when they are not on the court, trying to keep their heart rate up and their legs moving. Mike Conley and Rudy Gay were known to put in a lot of post-game work, especially when it came to cardio, sometimes running between one and three miles immediately following a final buzzer.

For players that don’t get a lot of playing time, the post-game weight/cardio room becomes incredibly important throughout the season in order to stay in shape and stay ready for every possible scenario. Or, as was the case on Friday, players who know they won’t be reaching their normal minute total will put in extra work off the court to make up for the difference.

Though Friday’s Jazz performance certainly left a lot to be desired, Hardy and the players came away from with a balanced and relaxed perspective. It was the final preseason game, the Jazz have a lot to work on with a really young roster, and things aren’t going to look perfect every night. At least for now, there’s no reason to over react.