Darryn Peterson knows there are going to be a lot of people amped up for Thursday’s game in Las Vegas between the Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards.
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It’s a game that is slated to pit Peterson, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft by the Jazz, against AJ Dybantsa, who was taken No. 1 overall by the Wizards.
“I think it’s more just Utah versus Washington,” Peterson said, “but obviously it’s going to be gassed up that way, so definitely just want to try to help my team win.”
That’s an attitude and perspective that is highly appreciated by the Jazz coaching staff and everyone surrounding Peterson, but they also don’t mind if he’s thinking about the matchup, so long as he’s using it as motivation.
“Look, as great as certain players are, it’s still a team sport,” Jazz assistant coach Steve Wojciechowski said. “While all these guys in summer league, this experience is so valuable for their individual journeys, the game of basketball is still a shared experience, so the more you pour into the shared experience, in my judgment, the more your individual abilities come out, and I think Darryn has a pretty good grasp on that.”
Peterson didn’t play in the Jazz’s final game of Salt Lake City Summer League Tuesday, the team preferring to hold him out of back-to-back contests ahead of the Las Vegas games.
In his first two games of the summer, Peterson scored 28 points against the Atlanta Hawks and followed that up with a 25-point, 12-assist double-double against the Memphis Grizzlies, whose roster is highlighted by 2026 No. 3 overall pick, Cameron Boozer.
Peterson admitted after the game against Memphis that he always tries to find something about the players he’s going up against to use as motivation, and assumed that Boozer would do the same.
“He was the pick after me so I know he probably had an agenda today as well,” Peterson said after the game on Monday night. “I couldn’t let that ride.”
Though Peterson only has two games of summer league ball under his belt with the Jazz, a trend seems to be popping up — Peterson will hold on to the smallest of reasons in order to motivate himself.
With the opening game against the Hawks, he thought about Atlanta rookie Zuby Ejiofor beating his Kansas Jayhawks with St. John’s in the NCAA Tournament.
Then against the Grizzlies, he was remembering previous bouts against Boozer and the fact that Boozer would want to make a statement against the player picked before him in the draft.
If this is the way that Peterson operates, it won’t take long for him to find NBA players to hold grudges against, to make new rivals, then to get amped up for games against those rivals.
There’s no doubt that games against Dybantsa and the Wizards will always have some baked in motivation for Peterson. Their first meeting, albeit in summer league action, comes Thursday night.
“I’m motivated for every game,” Peterson said, “but obviously that one is gonna be a big one.”
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