One of the perks of being the head coach of the best team in a conference is it gives you the opportunity to coach an All-Star team. Sure, there are obvious drawbacks to getting this nod, namely that even beyond the weirdness of this particular All-Star Game, not having the extra time to relax during the break kind of stinks.
Another drawback: NBA coaches are ultra-competitive by nature, and there has to be something kind of odd about coaching a basketball game in which your only jobs are to make sure everyone plays and no one gets hurt. This doubly applies to Quin Snyder, who as the head coach of the league-best Utah Jazz will be at the helm of LeBron James’ team next week.
Snyder is among the best tacticians in the league, which is a big reason why the Jazz are as good as they are, and one of the brightest spots on the roster thinks that he won’t be able to tamp down his enthusiasm for a gigantic exhibition.
Jordan Clarkson, asked if he could see Quin Snyder not being intense coaching at the All-Star Game: “Nah, not really — he’s probably gonna have LeBron getting back on transition defense, have guys crashing the glass.”
— Eric Walden (@tribjazz) February 27, 2021
Just once, I would like to see an All-Star head coach lean way too far into the fact that they’re inherently really competitive and try to put together a detailed, intricate gameplan for the event. It would get tossed out after about 10 seconds, but hey, it’d be fun.