Kris Dunn hopes he didn't offend Utah Jazz general manager Justin Zanik last weekend when he called to tell Dunn the team was guaranteeing his contract for the 2023-24 season.
"Unfortunately I was in bed with an illness," Dunn said, laughing as he remembered the moment. "It was hard to be excited ... but I'm super grateful for the opportunity. A lot of work has been put in. I'm forever grateful to the Utah Jazz for giving me that opportunity since last year with the 10 days."
Of anyone on the roster, Dunn is probably the last person you have to worry about being grateful for an opportunity or for being excited about playing basketball, so there's no real worry that Zanik was offended by Dunn's reaction. He loves the game and loves this Jazz team, despite only having been with the team for the last eight months.
After multiple strange, unpredictable and poorly-timed injuries early in his career, coupled with his offensive game being limited, Dunn went from a No. 5 overall draft pick in 2016, to on the brink of his NBA career being over.
But a chance with the G League's Capital City Go-Go last season saw a transformed version of Dunn — one who was patient and disciplined on offense, touch around the rim, a flashy floater, and a 3-point shot that was singing.
His Go-Go coach, Mike Williams, who is now an assistant coach with the Jazz, was surprised that Dunn was not getting called up by an NBA team and would often approach Dunn asking why he wasn't frustrated with the situation.
"I fell in love with the game even more," Dunn said of his time in the G League. "When you're down and out, you've got to find a way to really battle through and I just really, really worked on my fundamentals and tried to develop my game so that when the shot did come and present itself, I was ready."
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That shot came because Jazz CEO Danny Ainge saw what he'd always hoped to see from Dunn — a defensive specialist who'd expanded his game and regained his health.
"I saw a lot of Kris Dunn in college being at Providence, so I've followed him for a long time," Ainge said. "I saw him last year at the (G League) showcase in Vegas, and he just looked really good, looked healthy, looked fresh. He looked hungry. ... We ended up choosing him and he's been fantastic since he's been here. He's really proven that he is the NBA player that people thought he would be."
And it all comes as no surprise to any of the players that know him. Former Chicago Bulls teammate and now Jazz teammate Lauri Markkanen has said multiple times that Dunn is an exceptional teammate who is passionate about the game and raises the level of the team he is on.
New Jazz man John Collins , who spent time with Dunn in Atlanta, said that despite Dunn's injury-filled time with the Hawks, Dunn made a real impact on Collins.
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"He's all heart," Collins said. "The heart that he has, the passion, the strength — regardless of what he's had to go through basketball-wise, anyone would be happy to be around him as a teammate. The business can be cruel, but there's never any negative energy from him and he's always encouraging and always working hard. Whenever you have a guy like that in the locker room, you have to cherish it."
For those that were around to see what Dunn did with the Jazz last season — in 22 games he shot 47.2% from 3 while averaging 13.2 points, 5.6 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game — it seemed inevitable that the team would guarantee the guard's contract for the upcoming season.
"It's hard enough to get drafted, a contract on a team and then to kind of be shaken around, have to go to the G League and earn that back, I mean, that's big time," Kelly Olynyk said. "To stay persistent and follow your goals, your dreams and keep working and sometimes have to change and adapt and adjust your game ... It's not easy. Not everybody can do it. That's why not everybody gets back. But that's a testament to him, who he is and what he's about. We're lucky to have him."
Utah Jazz guard Kris Dunn talks to members of the media during Utah Jazz media day at the Zions Bank Basketball Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, Oct. 2, 2023. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
