SALT LAKE CITY: The NBA has a new iron man. And no one cares less about that than Joe Ingles.
For the first time in 384 regular-season games, the Englishman was not in training when Utah beat the Bucks 131-118 Friday in Milwaukee, sitting due to a sore Achilles pain. This put an end to what had been the longest streak of consecutive active games in the league.
“I’d be playing if I could,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. “There have been many times he has played through the pain, and probably from an injury he hasn’t spoken to us at times.”
This is not hyperbole either. Over the years, Ingles has played with a sprained middle finger and a sprained left ankle. He even continued to play after learning that his son, Jacob, had been diagnosed with autism.
That’s why it was the first time Donovan Mitchell played an NBA game without Ingles being active. And, yeah, things were a little weird.
“It was weird. There are a lot of things I didn’t realize Joe does until he’s there,” Mitchell said.
Of course, this included manipulating the ball, giving the Jazz some perimeter defense and another shooter, but it was what he noticed most outside of the Mitchell game.
“Before the warm-up, we had a little handshake, we introduced a handshake, which called for certain things in a locker room 20 minutes from the clock. There are only little things you miss,” Mitchell said.
Ingles had not lost a game since December 16, 2015, a streak that has spanned five years and totaled 418 games, if the playoffs are included. Friday’s contest in Milwaukee was just the fifth game the Englishman has lost in his seven-year NBA career. He has played in every game of the last four seasons.
His streak was the longest for a jazz player since John Stockton played 442 straight games in the regular season from 1997 to 2003. Sacramento Kings goalie Cory Joseph is now the league’s active leader with 274 straight games entering Friday.
“As much as anything, you pause for a second,” Snyder said of the streak. “And think about what a streak of consecutive games like this means and what it says about Joe: his toughness, his commitment, the kind of teammate he is … Understand why respect the way you do it.” .
English has often downplayed the importance of the streak over the years, and it did so again on Friday, telling ESPN“I don’t know what the big problem is, honestly.”
He has always been proud to play the game as much as he could. When some teammates rested for the playoffs, he played. When some players needed a day off due to some pain, he trotted around. It is his job to play basketball; he always felt that this was what he had to do.
“Because they pay me to play basketball,” Ingles said last August, while most Utah starters stayed out of games ahead of the NBA playoffs. “Again, it’s my job, it’s what I love to do. When I was playing for lollipops as a kid, that was the first thing that brought me to the court … I’ve loved it ever since. Playing by statistics or by numbers or the history book … I love to play and Who knows. “
So expect a new streak to start as soon as Ingles is healthy enough to return, which Mitchell says will be sooner rather than later.
“It’s definitely weird not to have him around, but he’ll be back next game,” Mitchell said. “He had a very, very big streak. His goal is to make it into his career. He’s pretty wild. He’s awesome, for sure.”
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Ryan Miller