Few people may now remember the name Jeff Hornacek, but as a former player who was ranked with Malone and Stockton as the "Jazz Three Elders", Honasek was one of the league's most stable shooters before retiring in 2000, and his humble personality and maverick division earned him the reputation of "basketball accountant". After retiring as part-time assistant coach, Jeff Hornacek returned to Salt Lake City. The Jazz's purpose in asking him back was simple, to help the players find confidence, and the focus of them was Kirilenko and Kyle Korver, and for Hornasek, his legendary NBA experience was enough to inspire the younger generations to forge ahead. According to Honasek, the most important thing for a shooter is confidence, which is to adjust himself mentally.
"Jeff is definitely not the kind of player who is born to play basketball, and now a player is often judged to be how high he can jump and how fast he can run. But I can tell you that no player I've ever seen has played smarter than he is, and he's the kind of player who uses his brain. ”
—Carl Malone
Hollancek was born into a basketball family, because his father was a high school basketball coach in Chicago, born in Illinois, he was considered to have no athletic talent, neither bouncing nor speed, but he has always worked silently until now, Honasek's backyard still retains the field where he practiced shooting, and the three-point line he personally marked is much farther than the NBA standard, and he sweats there day after day as a child.
When you give, you don't expect immediate returns, and if that's the case, the world will become an absolute speculative society, and opportunities will always belong to those who are prepared and reckless. In 1981, Honasek's first year at Lyons Township High School, a teammate was unable to play due to a car accident, so Hornasek was given the opportunity to join the starting lineup and began to emerge.
But despite his good performance in high school, by the time Honasek graduated, basketball was already the domain of black players and those muscle sticks, so no one looked favorably on Honasek, who was white like an albino patient, spoke softly, and played in a disciplined manner. There were also some who were interested in him, but only a few small colleges and ecclesiastical colleges. But Honasek has always acted according to his own plan, he does not change himself easily because of changes in the outside world and the comments of the ignorant, but he is full of confidence in himself. So he worked in a paper cup factory while waiting for the university's call. Honasek's father had been traveling around during this time, and he met Gray Cook, an assistant coach of the Iowa State University basketball team, and because several of the team's main players had left school, Cook recommended Honasek.
In the first year of college, "weak limbs", the unimpressive Honasek could only sit off the field to watch the performances of his teammates, but he did not relax his shooting training, but during this period he practiced stable shooting moves and solid psychological quality. If you've seen a shooting competition, you'll know that shooters need introverted personalities. They endure long periods of loneliness and have superhuman self-regulation. The shooter Hornasek is one of those types of players, he has a natural shooter temperament, and he is extremely disciplined, never greedy, and his teammates are willing to work with him: in the next four years, Honasek became the main player of the varsity team with his high-hit car and steady scoring, and left many records. In the four years from 1982 to 1986, Hornacek delivered 665 assists, breaking the Iowa Division's assist record. During his final two years of college, Hornasek became captain of the varsity team and led the team to the NCAA Semifinals in the 1985–86 season. In a match against the University of Miami (then led by Ren Harper) on March 14, 1986, Honasek dragged the game into overtime with a dead-end, then led the team to a 91–79 victory in Iowa's history in the NCAA Championship since 1944.
He graduated from Honasek university in 1986, but he also didn't get the attention of NBA scouts, averaging 10.7 points and 5.4 assists, nothing out of the ordinary, and his thin body looked better suited to sitting in a corporate office than on the basketball court of the 80s. Seeing that his physical fitness was really difficult to become a professional athlete, Honasek began to interview with several accounting firms to find a job, trying to get a stable salary accountant career.
Father helped him again, and the elder Hornasek called coach Bobby Knight, one of his best friends in the NCAA's four great coaches, and at Knight's recommendation, Suns owner Jerry Crangero gave Hornacek a chance to try out and was drafted — 46th overall in the second round. It was a strange draft, with almost all the rookies in the first round suffering misfortunes, while players in the second round, such as Hornacek, Rodman and Sabonis, played a world. But even so, Hornasek still did not suspend his interview at the accounting office, because his contract with the Suns was not guaranteed, so he was ready to roll up at any time after the first few months of playing in the NBA.
"I never wanted to be an NBA player." Honasek recalled: "I had already found work in some accounting firms. After I was selected, I asked them if it wouldn't affect them if I played, and if I couldn't play, would I be able to come back to work? Both companies said no problem. I really didn't think I'd play in the NBA, and I know the odds are slim. ”
As a substitute for Jay Hamfries. Hornasek began his career, making 80 appearances in the rookie season, averaging 5.3 points and 4.5 assists per game, ranking third in the team in total of 361 assists, and breaking the Suns' all-time record with 10 assists in a single quarter against the Golden State Warriors on January 28, 1987, while he delivered 18 assists in that game, which was also the highest single-game record in his 14-year career. In the 1987–88 season, Honasek continued to maintain a steady pace, averaging 9.5 points, 6.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game in 82 games, ranking first in the team in assists and steals. His 50.6 percent shooting percentage and 82.2 percent free throw shooting also herald the rise of a top pitcher.
In the 1988–89 season, Honasek began to occupy the Suns' starting scoring guard position. He averaged 13.5 points and 6.0 assists in 78 games. The Suns' record also rose to 55 wins and 27 losses, breaking into the playoffs for the first time in five years, and defeating the Nuggets and Warriors 3-0, 4-1, all the way to the Western Conference Finals, and finally losing to the Lakers led by "Magicians". Hornasek, who played in the playoffs for the first time, was steady, averaging 14.1 points and 5.2 assists per game.
Early in his career, though, Hornacek's technique wasn't perfect enough, and he never shot more than 30 percent from three-point range. So Honasek chose to work in private, trying to adjust the rotation of the left thumb of his right hand on the side of the ball, so he pulled his wife to the arena to help him pick up the ball. Soon, his sharp-eyed wife suggested to him, "Why not try pointing your finger at the frame when you're done shooting?" Honasek complied. It is not known whether it was the hard work or the wife's proposal that worked, but Honasek's three-point shooting rate in the 1989-90 season increased to 40.8%.
By the 1990-91 season, Honasek had become the NBA's most consistent and efficient scorer, and he and Kevin Johnson formed the best backcourt in the league. However, the Suns, who lacked internal support, were eliminated by the Jazz in the first round of 1-3 in the playoffs. In 1991–92, Honasek reached the first peak of his career, finishing first in scoring (20.1), steals (1.95), playing time (38.0), free throw percentage (88.6 percent) and three-point shooting (43.9 percent), leading the team to a record of 53 wins and 29 losses, and also played in the All-Star Game. In the playoffs, Honasek averaged 20.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game, leading the team to a 3-0 win over the Spurs, but again lost to the Blazers.
Missing the Finals for four consecutive years, the Suns decided to make some major changes to the team's roster, bringing in superstar Barkley in the summer of 1992, and Hornacek was swapped for the Philadelphia 76ers as one of the chips.
Although this deal is Barkley alone to replace three Players of the Suns, it is not difficult for the discerning person to see that in fact, the protagonists of this transfer are Barkley and Hornacek, and the other two players, Tiru Perry and Andrew Lan, are obviously just "adding heads".
Hornasek played just one full season in Philadelphia, and the 76ers only finished with a 26-56 record due to a disorganized lineup, but Honasek's personal performance remained steady, averaging 19.1 points and 6.9 assists per game. In February 1994, Hornasek was traded again, this time with the Jazz.
In Salt Lake City, Hornasek met his best teammates of his career, Carl Malone and Stockton — all three men who seemed naturally supposed to play on the same team, and one thing that happened after the start of the 1994-95 season made Hornasek determined to end up here.
It was the Jazz's first game, the opponent was the new Miami Heat, Honasek found that there was a fat guy who was always shouting on the sidelines, very annoying, so he walked over to him and said, "Dead fat man, can you shut up your stinky mouth!" "There was a sudden silence all around, and then someone whispered to him that the fat guy was team owner Larry Miller...
Hornacek thought he would soon be traded again, but Miller did not have a grudge, but used him heavily, which made Hornacek very moved.
Led by three core players, the Jazz became the top team in the league, and in the six seasons of Honasek, Malone and Stockton, the Jazz never won less than 60%, and reached the Finals for two consecutive years in 1997 and 1998, but in front of Jordan, they can only be remembered as the green leaves that set off the "flyer". Hornasek won the All-Star Three-Point Contest twice in 1998 and 2000, and his popularity began to grow. On the topic of Honasek, in addition to his very similar appearance to coach Sloan, it is his magical free throw technique, Honasek's career free throw shooting rate is as high as 87.7%, between November 12, 1999 and January 6, 2000, he has made 67 consecutive free throws in the game, and his action of having to touch his face three times before each free throw is even more popular with fans.
"I have three kids, and they always asked me why I couldn't say hello to them in front of the TV camera, and I guess I couldn't wave at the penalty, so I chose to touch my face, and touching it once meant greeting one of them." Hornacek recalled triumphantly, his face filled with happiness.
In 1999, Honasek was 36 years old, and a serious knee injury caused him to lose his form significantly. During a game against the Grizzlies on March 26, 1999, Hornasek became the 18th player in NBA history to score 14,000 points while assisting more than 5,000 assists. In the 1999–00 season, Honasek underwent his fourth knee surgery and his running ability was greatly affected, but with his experience and good touch, he still made 77 appearances, averaging 12.4 points per game.
On May 16, 2000, the Jazz were held out of the Western Conference Finals 1–4 by the Trail Blazers in the playoffs, and Hornacek announced his retirement.
In Honasek's 14-year NBA career, he played in 1,077 games, averaging 14.5 points, 4.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game, shooting 49.6 percent from the field and 40.3 percent from three-point range. With his own efforts and deep understanding of basketball, Hornacek became one of the most successful white people in the NBA. His precise shooting, excellent no-ball running, good team sense and fast and agile defense are also recognized by the league as a model among traditional scoring guards. On November 19, 2002, during the jazz's halftime game against the Suns, Honasek's Number 14 jersey was permanently retired. Jazz coach Sloan said of his former favorite: "He's very smart at playing, he's the best god pitcher in the NBA, and I'm proud of him. ”
After retiring, Honasek left more time for his family, "My children loved me very much and remember the day I retired, they were all happy because they knew their father had time to spend with them." Honasek laughed and said, "They've been waiting for this day for a long time, and I can't bear to disappoint them anymore." ”
Now that Honasek's youngest children are in eighth grade, he's back in the league and starting his career again. "I have bigger goals," Honasek said, "we have reason to believe he's going to succeed because for an accountant, everything is calculated precisely.