Utah Jazz players participate in Reddit AMA during 2026 Media Day

Keyonte George, Lauri Markkanen, Darryn Peterson and more participate in Reddit AMA.

Players from the Utah Jazz participated in a

Reddit AMA

during 2026 Media Day as they gear up for another season.

Check out the answers from Keyonte George, Lauri Markkanen, Darryn Peterson and more.

Question: What’s one skill you’d like to add from anyone in the league and why?

[Andrew] Nembhard, obviously a lot of guys have the bump middy, but just the way he’s able to get past his guy, and then as smaller guards, being able to bump somebody off that far is pretty tough. He got the type of swagger with him… I definitely want to take the little bump from Nembhard for sure.

—

Keyonte George

What’s one skill you’d like to add from anyone in the league and why?

Probably the IQ and vision from (Nikola) Jokić.

—Lauri Markkanen

What’s your favorite cities to play in around the NBA, and why?

There’s a lot of cities that I like to play in, but I feel like it’s always fun to go to New York and play in The Garden, obviously now the defending champions, so it’s going to be a great challenge for us, but that’s a fun place to play.

For everyone: Who would win in a team competition of HORSE? Is there a trick shot master on the team?

Me, A half court shot backwards.

—Josh Okogie

What aspect of your game do you think you’ve improved the most in?

I think really the main thing for me was, you know, my mental. So just working on different mental skills… making sure I’m, you know, present where I’m at, where my feet are at, not being worried about what happened before… staying even-keel, so that’s really the main thing I’ve been working on, obviously, try to sharpen up your tools, jump shot, mid-range game, floaters, get in shape like I said, working your footwork, but yeah, for me it was, you know, really the mental piece.

—Keyonte George

Who on this roster has one basketball skill that is way better than fans realize?

“[Center Jusuf Nurkić] got a trey ball, I think I knew that. I feel like I’ve been playing against Nurk for a while, but yeah, he’s got a tray ball.”

—Jaren Jackson Jr.

What teams and/or players are the absolute most frustrating to defend or be defended by, or just play against in general?

“Who I would say is frustrating to defend. I would probably say Steph Curry cause you’re going to have to run 5 miles and … hit a billion screens, so it’s kind of frustrating. And somebody that is frustrating to get defended by, Probably I would say … oh my little bro, my little bro Amen Thompson, my little bro yeah yeah my little bro.

How are the vibes? It seems like this group that really gets along, and I think everyone bonding as teammates is an extremely underrated part of any NBA roster.

“Oh, for sure, vibes are great. Obviously we have a great group of guys…It’s a great mix of younger and older guys, and I feel like everybody’s on the same page and yeah…it’s been a great experience. Everybody likes each other, everybody likes to play with each other and… it’s been great, the vibes are very high.

—Svi Mykhailiuk

JJJ – what are you most excited to bring to your new team? Anything you learned from your time in Memphis that you think will help make an immediate impact?

I’m excited to bring energy every day, leadership, experience, defense, playing hard, versatility. I think everything I’ve learned from my first 8 years in Memphis will help me.

I wonder if Lauri or Jaren have any extra stories to tell during their time in Helsinki that weren’t shown on camera.

Helsinki was a lot of saunas, jumping in the cold ocean or lake or water. What was it? I don’t even know something. I was jumping in something. It was cold, Yeah, like over and over again, basically not sleeping. Going to Lyle’s game, that was cool. Eating soft serve, walking around with Ryan and Will and Key for hours, passing all these different … felt like monuments, but they’re just regular to them, and they’re the nicest people in the world ranked, like they’re like the happiest or something like that. It’s cool.

For Keyonte — what recent changes have you made to better take care of your body and improve physical performance?

Yeah, I think, I’ve started to kind of find the, the pocket of time where I need to really start getting back the right habits when I’m when I’m eating and stuff, so I obviously take our trips and you know I think for me now after I come back from my trip, that’s when I lock in on my eating habits. I mean I feel like for the most part all summer … I don’t really get out of shape. I try to stay in shape throughout the whole year – just for my health in general. I think the changes I kind of made was with the food obviously being more intentional with fresh pressed juices, water intake, stuff like that I’m being real intentional with that.

Lauri, what’s it like mentoring young guys like Ace and Darryn?

Yeah, since I’m the old guy now, it kind of feels weird to be on this spot. I feel like I was just in their shoes a couple of years ago, but It’s amazing, they’re willing to learn, they’re hard workers, and they come in every day with an open mindset and trying to learn, so that’s been really easy.

What’s the most points you’ve scored before making the NBA? (International, high school, college, middle school, or even before lol)

The most points I scored in my life was 57 in middle school. It was a good game.

—Isaiah Collier

How do you feel about the current roster? Will it be a top 6 seed in the West?

I think we have a great group of guys, you know, I really enjoyed being around them the last couple weeks. You know, I think the best way to go into season with no expectations, just continue to build our chemistry and building an identity on the court, and I think we’ll be ready to go.

—Josh Green

Lauri: You’ve yet to play in the playoffs. Why do you think this might be the year you break through?

Just the vibe in the facility. I feel like everybody’s been locked in the whole summer. We have a great team, great coaching staff, and I think we’re ready to go and we’re trying to get off to a good start and hopefully we can keep that up.

What’s your favorite thing about living in Utah?

My favorite thing about Utah is definitely like the outdoor scene. I feel like there’s endless stuff to do, like hiking, paddleboarding, you know, ATVs, stuff like that…but, yeah, things that I enjoyed doing, fishing, stuff like that, and it’s pretty cool, also the scenery too.

—Brice Sensabaugh

Who is one player in the league that ‘deserves their flowers’ and why?

Shout out my dog, Naji Marshall, man. He’s king of the floater, that’s my dog. I’ve known him since like sophomore year of high school.

—Jaxson Hayes

I think one thing that stuck out to me this summer is Darryn Peterson’s ability to block jump shots. I think that’s kind of like something that most people can’t really do…you know, few and far between kind of thing. His ability to get off the ground like, as somebody shooting a jump shot and get to it is pretty impressive.

I think just my general knowledge of the game. This has been the offseason where I spent the most time playing actual 5-on-5 as opposed to doing 1-on-1 workouts, and, you know, the 1-on-1 workouts is great for just skill … but I think I’m at a point in my career where just X’s and O’s knowledge and just synergy and just how the game flows is more important.

—Mo Bamba

How are the vibes? It seems like this group really gets along, and I think everyone bonding as teammates is an extremely underrated part of any NBA roster.

Vibes are always high here in Utah. Just the the fan base, the environment, you know, it’s super cool because I didn’t really expect this when I first got here, but, you know, they really welcome you. This community welcomes you like … you were born and raised here, and it’s really cool to be able to play in front of them where they show so much love.

—Kyle Filipowski

Jaren Jackson Jr. with his offhand. He uses his left hand a lot and a lot of floaters, a lot of touch shots…so I feel like that and his offhand.

—Harrison Ingram

Past or present? I would go with Jamal Crawford’s handles, that’s been my favorite player of all time, so Jamal Crawford handles at my size would be insane.

Jonas Aidoo

For Ace – How much do you desire to be the Franchise player? What’s your drive to be the top top top (All NBA honors, MVP, All-Defensive Team) basketball player? And where are you at in terms of the confidence of getting on the rim , inviting contact and drawing fouls?

Confidence is growing every day … but it’s very important for me to be a franchise player. I mean, that’s every kid’s goal … from just watching the Michael Jordans, the Kevin Durants, even if it takes time like James Harden, so it’s very important.

—Ace Bailey

For Darryn Peterson – How did you feel when you heard the NBA Commissioner call your name 2nd overall?

It was crazy, my first thought was just let me hurry up and get to my mom cause I know she was about to start crying, so I gave her that hug. Went around the table, then I walk up to the stage. It was just like a deep breath, like super refreshing for me because I worked super hard my entire life to get there, so it felt great.

—Darryn Peterson

For Darryn – What’s the bar to make this a successful season for you?

A ton of wins. That’s what success is to me, just winning games and having an impact on every game.

For Darryn – Who are you most looking forward to play against in the NBA?

LeBron [James], D-Book [Devin Booker], Luka [Dončić], Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander], Ant [Edwards]. Those guys come to mind.

Darryn, what did you know about the Jazz before getting drafted here? Also, does having two All-Star-level bigs on the roster change the way you approach the game at all?

After the Lottery, I looked into the teams at the top, did some research and it’s crazy because I said I would fit the best with Utah, so it’s crazy that they ended up taking me. Two All-Star bigs is huge for me, two vets that I can count on and ask questions. Obviously, I want to be an All-Star one day, so trying to figure out how to do that.