Jazz started training camp talking trash. Will Hardy loved it

The Jazz spent the first day of training camp talking trash to each other. Will Hardy couldn’t have been happier.

Utah’s coach said the competitiveness immediately showed itself during the team’s opening practice, with players getting after one another rather than easing their way into camp, according to a’Andre Emerson of the Deseret News.

Hardy has a name for the alternative. The “brother-in-law game.” That’s when everyone is so friendly and polite that nobody wants to play too hard and risk making the next family dinner uncomfortable. Hardy doesn’t want that. He wants competition.

The Jazz have plenty of reasons for it. Utah has young players fighting for roles, veterans trying to establish their places and a coaching staff attempting to determine which combinations actually work.

There are minutes available. There should be arguments over them. Hardy said the trash talk during practice wasn’t malicious. It was evidence that players were comfortable enough with one another to compete without taking everything personally.

That’s probably the sweet spot. Training camp isn’t supposed to be a family picnic. At least not in Utah.