Exclusive: Why Walker Kessler's confidence continues to grow amid Jazz rebuild

01/27/2025 07:28 PM

Organizations sometimes need to reset. It’s just a fact of life in professional sports, especially for small market teams. Finding players to build around requires patience, a bit of NBA Draft luck, and clear communication of the plan. Keeping that plan on track is an entirely different process than mapping it out, one that requires conviction and consistency. Well, the wheeling-and-dealing Utah Jazz are most likely keeping Walker Kessler around because the big man perfectly fits the franchise’s mold.

Godfather offers in recent reports aside, it seems Kessler (averaging 11.3 points and 11.4 rebounds) will be the Jazz’s starting center for a while. That tracks as consistency was the chorus going around Utah’s locker room before a matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies. The double-double machine sat down with ClutchPoints to explain how just sticking to the routine has led to being a star.

“(Being consistent) is important man. You’ve got to fall in love with the process of being great,” Kessler stated. “Everyone wants to be on top but you’ve got to learn how to fall in love with the actual process of getting better.”

“I’ve always prided myself on being consistent in the gym and getting in the work,” Kessler added. “I think when all else fails you can always trust your work. I think being consistent plays into that because the less you’re in the gym the more stuff goes awry in the game. Then your confidence goes down. Being consistent with the work is a big part of (success).”

All-Star potential from young centers gets noticed. Kessler is keeping an even keel amid a flurry of trade rumors.

“You can’t get overwhelmed by the whole deal. It speaks to being consistent again,” Kessler replied. “Taking it day by day. Attacking each day for the day it is when the sun rises. For that day, you’re focused on that day. When the sun sets you go to bed, wake up, do it again the next day.”

Will Hardy’s Jazz, Walker Kessler keep trucking

Jazz head coach Will Hardy appreciates the professionalism from Kessler while the Jazz soldier through the NBA’s 82-game season.

“This has been a really good year for (Walker Kessler) thus far. That word (consistent) is something we’ve used a lot with him these first two seasons,” Hardy said. “This is an every-night business. I say to Walker pretty frequently, anybody can do it once. The best guys are the ones who are going to show up night after night whether things are going their way or not. Whether they feel good or not. You find a way to crank yourself up to go compete and deliver in the game.”

“I think of late (Kessler) has shown the ability to push through many adversities,” continued Hardy. “Walker does not feel perfect every night. His body does not feel perfect every night. There is this flu that seems to be floating around the NBA right now. Every night it seems like somebody is half under the weather. Walker has done a really, really good job of pushing through all those things and is not making excuses.”

Now 40 games into a third season, Kessler remembers making some excuses. Those mistakes were lessons learned and are now passed down to the Jazz’s newest rookies.

“My rookie year it was around this time it was like ‘Wow, this is a long season.’ You might play 35 games in college,” noted Kessler. “It’s helping these young guys and telling them to be consistent (with the work). You’ve got to take it day by day…Don’t get lost in the whole span of things. As I rookie I counted the games. I knew alright we’ve got this many left. You’re going to be overwhelmed the whole time if you’re doing that so focus on the day and attack that day.”

That attitude has Miss America calling Jazz big man Walker Kessler a keeper. Hardy can work with that regardless of how the NBA Draft Lottery luck pans out for Utah.

“I’m really proud of his development as a player when you look at the technical things that are kind of easy to see,” Hardy boasted. “More than that I’m proud of his development as a young man and as a competitor. Like, he has grown a lot over the two and a half years and is doing a really, really good job for us.”

Kessler is up for a rookie-scale contract extension this offseason and Utah has no reason to budge on an asking price starting with two first-round picks. The 23-year-old is second in the league in blocks (2.4 per game) and shooting an NBA-best 73.3% from the field. The Jazz should be able to scale up the Western Conference standings after opening up the wallet to keep Kessler, who is also a top-10 rebounder.

With everyone seemingly in his corner, it’s easy to see how Kessler has continued to grow while in Salt Lake City.

The post Exclusive: Why Walker Kessler’s confidence continues to grow amid Jazz rebuild appeared first on ClutchPoints.