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Jazz head coach Will Hardy is clearly fed up with his team’s effort levels amid a brutal start to the 2025-26 NBA season.
Hardy was caught on video laying into his players during a timeout, and he didn’t talk about when talking about the team’s effort during a game against the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
“I’m tired of doing this every game,” Hardy was heard saying in a now-viral video on X. “F—ing play harder!”
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Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy watches play against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second quarter at the Delta Center on Dec. 7, 2025. (Rob Gray/Imagn Images)
The Thunder silenced the Jazz, 131-101, despite playing without the league’s reigning MVP winner, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, on Sunday night.
But Gilgeous-Alexander’s absence didn’t slow the Thunder from burying their three-point attempts as they hit 21 on the night, and it started right away in the first quarter. They outscored the Jazz 45-20 and immediately built a lead that would only grow as the game wore on.
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It has been a rough start for the Jazz this season as they are now 8-15. However, they are not the worst team in the Western Conference, as they are 12th out of 15 teams in the standings coming into Monday.
But Utah is coming off back-to-back blowouts, having been crushed by the New York Knicks, 146-112, this past Friday. Hardy, who has never put together a winning season with the Jazz since taking over as their head coach in the 2022-23 season, is clearly sending a message that he needs to see more of his guys.
Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy reacts after a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half at the Delta Center on Dec. 7, 2025. (Rob Gray/Imagn Images)
Hardy owns a 93-176 career record as head coach of the Jazz and is coming off his worst campaign with a 17-65 record.
Utah has been trying to rebuild itself since moving on from Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell in the 2022 offseason, but they have yet to put together the right pieces to become a playoff threat.
However, there is promise on paper, and guard Keynote George is doing well now in his third season. He is averaging 22.2 points per game. game, while the Jazz just took exciting rookie guard Ace Bailey out of Rutgers in this year’s NBA Draft.
Lauri Markkanen also remains the team’s focal point, as the Finnish forward is currently on pace for a career high in points (27.6 per game) while also averaging 6.5 rebounds and two assists.
Head coach Will Hardy of the Utah Jazz shouts to his team during the first half of a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Delta Center on December 7, 2025 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
Hardy hopes he can make his first career playoff appearance as a head coach, but that won’t happen if he doesn’t see a better effort going forward.
The Jazz are back in action against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.
