Reader comments
Brad Rock: D-Will now 24/7 face of the Utah Jazz

Riggs | 1:17 a.m. Sept. 17, 2008

We are so lucky to have Deron Williams in Utah. I don't care what the stats or the national media say, I take Deron Williams over Chris Paul every day of the week (not that Paul is a bad guy either, he's a great character guy.) And most certainly, I take Deron over thugs like Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant six ways of this weekend.

rvalens2 | 2:46 a.m. Sept. 17, 2008

Well deserved praise for a Jazz player who has truly become part of our community.

Awesome | 3:35 a.m. Sept. 17, 2008

We are lucky to have D-will. He is an awesome guy and the best PG in the league. Chris Paul is too but I think Williams is better. We need more good character guys in the league like him. Props D-Will. You rule!!

Comments continue below

D-Will for President... | 5:18 a.m. Sept. 17, 2008

D-Will is a class act and a great roll model for everyone. Thank you for putting class into the NBA, an organization that is really hurting for class. This will be your allstar year!

Stockton and Malone were great but couldn't hold a half candle to you.

IdahoJazzFan | 7:37 a.m. Sept. 17, 2008

The Jazz do their homework prior to draft day. They will default to a great person over a great player when the talent level is about equal. All Jazz fans are reaping the benefits of that homework when it comes to D-Will. CP3 is great a great player and he is great for New Orleans but D-Will is great for us. The best part is that we will continue to enjoy D-Will's skills and good will for a long time.

Utahns Love D-Will | 8:13 a.m. Sept. 17, 2008

D-Will is the man! What a cool guy he is and an incredible player. And as far as CP3 goes....D-Will works him over every time he plays him, D-Will has his number! Thanks D-Will for being a stud on and off the court!

Wrong Jersey | 8:29 a.m. Sept. 17, 2008

I was debating which jersey to by my two-year old last season and I got him Boozer's... Oops! Anyway, I love D-Will and hope he can keep some of the bigger heads in check and in the line-up.

ijazzfan4 | 9:06 a.m. Sept. 17, 2008

thanks d-will for giving my kids and grandkids a positive hero to emulate! It seems that there are so FEW NBA players who do that! Or is it the press who ignore the good a lot of NBA players do and sensationalize the emotional problems, infidelity, wife beatings - drug problems-and gangsta attitude a few have? thanks Deseret News for showing an NBA star can be a good example of what it means to be the MAN off the court as well as on it!.

Z | 9:44 a.m. Sept. 17, 2008

I'm confused, is D-Will modeling rolls?

To Jazz Management | 10:09 a.m. Sept. 17, 2008

D-Will is the best type of player you could ask for. Don't screw this up by making bad deals. He wants to win so keep the talent coming.

Charley | 10:21 a.m. Sept. 17, 2008

Undoubtedly, Deron Williams is a fine guy and, except for the tattoos, an excellent role model. Carlos Boozer, who has family responsibilities (and tattoos) is no less a class act. Anyway, I'm not sure why it's necessary to disparage certain players in order to write nice things about others.

St. George Aggie | 10:33 a.m. Sept. 17, 2008

Props to D-Will. Wish more guys were like him in the league.

Glad to have him as the face of the Jazz, he represents the team, community, and himself very well.

He has made us all forget about that incident at the bar in Park City with Robert Whaley where he gave them a fake name.

Seriously, I like D-Will and he carries himself extremely well. I am glad he is the face of the Jazz. He is human and makes mistakes just like the rest of us, but shows that you can turn all that around.

magnus | 11:32 a.m. Sept. 17, 2008

I predict that as long as Williams is healthy and he has a good coach the Jazz will be an above .500 basketball team regardless of who else is on the team. I know that's not enough for the fans, (myself included) we want a championship, but Williams is that kind of player, he eleveates his teamates and he is good enough to win a few by himself.

Jazzaholic | 11:34 a.m. Sept. 17, 2008

Thanks Kevin! For letting "the Fish off the hook", so D-Will could take over the leadership of the team. If Fisher would have still been around, this probably wouldn't have happened, at least not this quickly.

Jazzaholic

Hugh G. Hater | 11:34 a.m. Sept. 17, 2008

Dwill is awesome and a stand up guy.
Now, can lhm and crew get him a supporting cast to win a championship?

Calgary Jazz | 12:55 p.m. Sept. 17, 2008

Why my comments were getting erased? Do Utah needs new sport idol and is willing to close the eyes to the fact that he lied to police and was calling himself "Torey Elis"? He as well was involved in that drunk Portland stripper incident, badmouthed his teammates and is far from perfect class act or role model. If it is democracy in USA lets listen to other side instead of praising him blindly and erasing right comments.

sidenote | 1:04 p.m. Sept. 17, 2008

Last offseason I was at a blockbuster in Salt lake just off of, i think, 2nd south and 8th west (not a rich part of town by any means) and DWill and his wife were there simply looking for a movie to rent. There were only a few people in the store and I'm sure we all wanted to run up and get his autograph and meet him, and sometimes he'd see us looking at him from a distance and he'd grin at us and go back to business talking to his wife about what movie to get. I thought that was awesome! First, he seemed so regular just hanging out with his wife picking out a movie to RENT when he could buy the whole store, and we, the fans, were enough aware of the fact that he wanted to hang out with his wife and not get all the ooh's and aah's of us fans that we let him be rather than interrupting him. I think that might be part of why he likes it here, cause he can be himself and do what he wants to enjoy a "regular" life as well as be a star.

What ? | 1:34 p.m. Sept. 17, 2008

Calgary Jazz guy who ever you are
Do you think he's matured the last few years just a little from his rookie season and is turning into a really good young man?
I wonder what you were like when you were 21-22 years old. Sorry my mistake you might only be 21-22 years old now.
Lighten up everybody can't be as perfect as you

St. Louis!!!! | 1:47 p.m. Sept. 17, 2008

Love D-Will! Calgary Jazz...... use that brain man. Deron Williams is a great player in the NBA and will be a great part of the SLC community for many many years to come. I am hopeful Greg Miller will get slightly more aggressive than Larry H. and spend the dough to build a championship team in the Jazz. If I am lucky Greg will sell the Jazz to St. Louis and Dave Checketts (owner of the St. Louis Blues) to keep them from going to Seattle. GO JAZZ! Go D-Will! Go away bandwagon fans! The NBA season is right around the corner.

Ready for Basketball season | 2:16 p.m. Sept. 17, 2008

Deron Williams is bad @$$. I saw him driving like a day after the olympics ended (his car is sick by the way)... they got home quick. Anyway, it is way too long of a summer without having Jazz games to watch. The rocky mtn review is a nice little fix in the middle of summer, but that seems like it was forever ago. If they ever do away with the revue I will probably go insane. Anyway, go Jazz, Deron will be the best thing that ever happened to the Utah Jazz, and NBA Championship here we come.

Quir Worrying | 3:43 p.m. Sept. 17, 2008

Kevin, and Jazz ownership, will do the right thing. Do some of you people realize just how hard it is to win an NBA championship? When we are consistently in the top 10 in this league we should love it. Don't get me wrong I too want a ring for this team so bad I would give up or do anything almost. I believe Booz will want more than the Jazz can pay, and therfore will be gone after this season, and late word today on another website says that the top Russian team wants to pay the big bucks for A.K. All that said I still think we are fine. Booz didn't get any playing time in the olympics from his old college coach tells you something without saying it, and A.K. couldn't guard me off the ball, however he plays good help defense from the weak side. So neither players loss will impact us on the floor as much as their salary does. Koufus and Miles will step in quite nicely thank you. Milsap too.

Amen | 3:55 p.m. Sept. 17, 2008

Great article. Deron, you are the best thing that's happened to this organization in a long time. I've always been a fan of point guard play and I never thought I'd like watching a PG as much as I did John Stockton. I was wrong. Good luck and thanks for playing!

Portland, OR Jazz Fan | 4:09 p.m. Sept. 17, 2008

Can DWill come to my birthday party up here in Nov?

I had season Jazz tickets year before last during the Western Conference Finals run and miss those boys more then words can describe. Contrary to the poster above who purchased a Boozer jersey, I saw the writing on the wall immediately and purchased a #8 jersey at the beginning of that season, and got it signed by D-Will as well. D-Will is a special, special player, and also appears to be a special person.

You should hear the boos rain down when I attend Jazz games wearing a Blue #8 up here in the Rose Garden. Music to the ears, people!

Here is a shout out to the entire team: your invited to dinner during your road trip to Portland! I can out-cook El Gaucho's any night! :-)

Haha | 4:18 p.m. Sept. 17, 2008

Like Paris Hilton, but with talent. Hahahaha.

Charley?? | 4:31 p.m. Sept. 17, 2008

So if you have tattoos you can't be a role model? So if any cops, fire fighters, military personnel have tattoos they cease to be a good role model? I knew a great LDS missionary (and I'm sure there are more) that had tattoos, visible tattoos on his forearms. Don't judge someone by their ink, you never know what anyone's story is until you ask them. Maybe you want all the clean cut guys on 'To Catch a Predator' to come teach your kids some life lessons. Yeah for stereotypes.

Back to the article, D-Will is awesome. I think he's becoming one of the better players in the league and in three or four more years may be in that group of elite players. Hopefully the Jazz keep and/or get players around him that will help him get to that level and bring a championship to Utah.

Soupe | 5:08 p.m. Sept. 17, 2008

Heard some rumor about Josh Howard being not patriotic and "unfit" for Texas. I have been always been totally against trading AK as he is my fav player but I somewhat like the idea of AK for Howard idea. Howard is a monster on the both side of the court. Haven't tried on ESPN trade machine but I dont see why it wouldnt work out. Who care if he is unpatriotic?

Problem Soupe | 5:52 p.m. Sept. 17, 2008

Problem is Soupe is that A.K. wants to go play for Putin.

Josh Howard | 5:55 p.m. Sept. 17, 2008

wouldn't fit in with the Jazz. He and Jerry Sloan would clash and he's too much of a "me" player.

Calgary Jazz | 6:11 p.m. Sept. 17, 2008

re What? and St.Louis: We need few more years to find out if he matured enough from those early rookie and sophomore season mistakes. To early to start building sculpture for him. Any player who admits consciously ignoring and freezing out other player on the team is suspect of selfishness...

Anonymous | 11:59 p.m. Sept. 17, 2008

I love D-Will and I am more than stoked that he is remaining in Utah for several more years and hopefully the rest of his career. I think he is truely a class-act on the court but more importantly he is one off the court as well.

but how dare this article talk about John Stockton that way!!! He did nothing but good for utah for 19 seasons! Just because he was more of a private guy doesn't make him any less of a value to the community!

Go Deron and go Jazz! good luck in this upcoming season, I will be watching faithfully

risky | 1:57 p.m. Sept. 18, 2008

Calgary Jazz-
I agree with you.

Re:Calgary Jazz | 8:45 p.m. Sept. 18, 2008

Please stop talking. Seriously. I guess you can't make some people happy. Deron is not a perfect human being. He has made mistakes and He will make more, but you seriously cannot deny that he is a great guy.
Every game I watch I know that he might do something amazing. He makes his teammates better and he's one of the best leaders in the NBA. Before the draft in 2005 I heard someone ask Jay Bilas, "Who is the best leader in this draft?" Without a moments pause he said, "Deron Williams". I cannot wait to see Deron hold the NBA championship high at the end of this season. It will happen. Seriously. The Jazz might win 60. Yes, I'm serious.

Reid | 9:35 p.m. Sept. 19, 2008

Deron is a great ballplayer, but also a genuinely great person. The sky really is the limit for him.

James P | 10:41 p.m. Sept. 21, 2008

Yeah, too bad about those tattoos, D-Will. All the good things you're doing for your community, and people still worry more about something as old as fire and language.

Illini on Jazz | 7:18 a.m. Sept. 23, 2008

D-Will is a class act. Period. He was a class act at Illinois, in Beijing, and in the NBA. Represented these well, and will continue to do so, no doubt. That is how pride is born. Tatoos don't define an individual, and do little to explain their character. Mistakes are made by the best of people; the key is to learn from those mistakes, to avoid repeating them, and to increase your wisdom. D-Will will not disappoint. Deron, thank you, and keep making your fellow Illini proud!

Role Model With Tattoos | 1:14 p.m. Sept. 29, 2008

I love how some people have mentioned that DWill is great, but he has tattoos. The Utah culture is so judgemental. DWill is a great role model, because he is showing Utah that even people with tattoos can be great. People should have the mind set as: Having tattoos is awesome! Not having tattoos is awesome! I love DWills tattoos they show his character.

gail moore | 9:30 p.m. Oct. 19, 2008

I became a Deron fan when he was an Illini, and I have not been let down yet. He is amazing, and it is turning out that he is also a caring person that is helping many other people. Keep up the good work. Wish we had more just like him.

A fan forever

cookie | 11:50 a.m. Nov. 11, 2008

I have been a DWILL fan since Illinois days, as a matter of fact, I met him just before the game in Chicago against the Bulls and he was very sincere in allowing me to introduce myself and shake my hand. People do make mistakes, they learn from them, and move on. Tattoos only relate what kind of person he is.....it's his initals people....he was great in the Olympics and will only get better in the NBA...GO JAZZ!!!! Good luck De-ron! I love you!

jason | 5:54 p.m. Nov. 19, 2008

Dwill is da man! I am from Illinois and have been a fan of the Illini since the 80s during the times of kendall gill, nick anderson, and kenny battle. Dwill has always been getting the short stick next to chris paul but our illini kicked the crap out of chris paul and the wake forest demon deacons when they were ranked #1. Hopefully dwill will start getting the respect he deserves from the nba critics. I was a bulls fan until utah drafted dwill and dee brown. go jazz. run the table in the west coast. Sorry Luther Head (Houston Rockets). I still root for you also.

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