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LAS VEGAS — Sean Sheldon wasn't going to hide reality.
During each practice leading into summer league, the Jazz assistant broadcast the dire situation the team found itself in last season.
"It was up on a screen: 30th in defense and all of those statistics," rookie Kyle Filipowski said. "So we're well aware of that and know that's a big priority to get better at this year."
Now, Filipowski didn't have anything to do with these numbers, and he and fellow rookies Cody Williams and Isaiah Collier likely won't be the main reasons they will improve (defense, after all, tends to be pretty tough for first-year players).
But those early practices featured seven players who could play minutes for the Jazz this season, and some players (Walker Kessler, Keyonte George, Taylor Hendricks) are already being penciled in as part of next season's rotation.
"For me, it's just kind of helping (Jazz head coach) Will (Hardy) start to instill some things that we want to see moving forward," Sheldon said.
It's an opportunity for the team to get a little bit of a head start on the season. It also provides a coach a platform to take the next step in their career.
Multiple current NBA head coaches got their first taste at the lead jobs during summer league. That list includes Oklahoma City's Mark Daigneault (the 2023-24 NBA Coach of the Year), Orlando's Jamahl Mosley and New Orleans' Willie Green.
But if anyone knows how summer league can help a coach, it's Hardy. He coached the Spurs summer league team for four seasons during his run in San Antonio. Sheldon's coaching career is starting to mirror Hardy's a bit. They both started in the Spurs' video room before progressing up the coaching ranks. Sheldon was promoted to a front-of-the-bench role for the first time this season.
"I think a lot of people have tried to skip steps," Sheldon said.
He isn't doing that. He sees summer league as just the next step.
The experience gives young coaches a chance to run practices and experience in-game situations that they might not see just by working with guys out on a practice court.
"The real, game-time, understanding offense, understanding defense, understanding different scenarios," Mosley told FiveThirtyEight in 2022. "Putting together a practice. How does it flow? What are you doing? What are you trying to accomplish? What is your messaging? All of those things play a major part into how it transfers over to the game."
It didn't take long for Sheldon to feel the pressure of being in the lead chair. In his first game as a summer league coach, he was faced with two major decisions.
The first was whether or not to foul up by 3 points in the waning seconds. He chose the foul game. It was an analytically sound decision but it backfired when the towering Zach Edey tipped in a missed free throw to force overtime.
The second was whether or not to challenge a foul on Kessler. His bench told him it was a foul; Kessler told him it was a clean play. He rolled the dice and won that challenge.
"It's similar to the players, you just have to allow yourself to make mistakes," Sheldon said. "It's going to happen. First-time head coach, some of these guys it's the first time playing in the NBA like, there are going to be mistakes, but we're all trying to be the best we can. So that's what I'm trying to remember to give myself grace. It won't be perfect, but everyone's doing it from a place of trying to learn and trying to get better."
Sheldon's goal, like most of the lead coaches in Las Vegas, is to be an NBA head coach. That's why there's so much passion coming from the sidelines during the summer league. Sure, the results of these games aren't that meaningful, but the processes can.
"I would love to be a head coach one day if I get there, but if I don't, I love my role as an assistant and supporting Will and the players," Sheldon said.
As for his new role at the front of Utah's bench, he doesn't think much will change in his day-to-day responsibilities too much. He'll continue to work with Lauri Markkanen, and focus on opponent scouting and the team's defense. But, he admits, moving up a row will give him a bigger voice on the team.
A voice he's honed this summer.
