Utah Jazz: Candid Kirilenko shows no animosity over role with Jazz

It will take Andrei Kirilenko quite a while to stand in front of the class next fall and talk about what he did during his summer vacation.

Between trips to France (no worries, the visa paperwork went through for his family trip), Russia and China, this will be a jam-packed offseason for the forward.

Whether or not Kirilenko will return to the Beehive State and tell his traveling tales as a member of the Utah Jazz in a few months is a question rattling through inquiring minds now that the team's season is over.

As far as Kirilenko is concerned, that question needn't be asked.

"Well, I have (a) contract," he said Saturday, "so I'll definitely be here."

Of course, Kirilenko also had a contract — three years and oodles of cash remain on it now — when he made headlines last summer about his displeasure with his role on the Jazz. A trade even seemed likely before the 2007-08 season.

Fast forward a year — but not quite as far as the France trip — and Kirilenko is giving no indication that he is unhappy with anything other than being eliminated by the Lakers.

"This was very good season for us," Kirilenko said at the Jazz's locker cleanup session. "But we haven't done the main goal yet. We need to win the finals."

With the help of Jeff Hornacek — who tutored him on how, when and where to shoot — this AK-47 ended up having the most accurate shooting season in his six-year NBA career.

And, yes, that came as a surprise to him — and others — after his 2007 summer vents to Russian media were followed by vents made about him by Deron Williams to Utah media.

Even if the miscommunication that led to his excused-but-distracting absence from Thursday's practice made some wonder if he was more interested in vacation plans than preparing for Game 6, it appears the international crisis has been resolved.

He even called this "the best year of my career."

"It was definitely better than expected," Kirilenko admitted. "I was kind of worried about this year."

So, obviously, were the Jazz. But management and Kirilenko smoothed things out prior to training camp, something that helped the 27-year-old tweak his attitude for the better.