Jazz star rookie Darryn Peterson had ‘NBA mentality’ long before reaching Utah

Darryn Peterson was thinking like an NBA veteran long before he ever stepped onto the court for the Utah Jazz.

The much-hyped star rookie‘s work ethic and maturity have already caught the attention of his new teammates and coaches. But a recent story from a former NBA All-Star shows that Peterson’s approach to basketball isn’t new.

On a recent episode of “Gil’s Arena,” former NBA player Gilbert Arenas talked about meeting Peterson through his son Alijah, who roomed with the young guard during USA Basketball in 2023.

Arenas initially thought his son would have the room to himself, as he didn’t want there to be any distractions for the future McDonald’s All-American, but Alijah told him:

“No, I’m with Peterson. … He’s a professional, professional.”

That prompted Arenas to ask who Peterson was and what a “professional, professional” is, and his son quickly explained.

“When I see a person like that and a player like that, I really want to help him. I think so far, he’s been nothing but great. … Everyone loves him.”

“He’s NBA mentality right now,” Arenas recalled being told. “Like he ain’t for no games.”

Peterson was still in high school at the time, but according to Arenas, he was already treating basketball like a profession.

That meant keeping his room clean, staying away from distractions and making sure he was ready for the next day.

Arenas recalled Alijah saying Peterson was already offering advice about keeping his side of the room clean and avoiding distractions from other people around them.

“Them people in the hallway, man, they ain’t real,” Arenas recalled. “You don’t need to talk to them, you don’t need to deal with them, man. They going to fall off.”

Arenas mentioned Peterson even encouraged Alijah to avoid going out with other players during USA Basketball trips.

“He was like, ‘No, man, we going to order food, bring it in, we going to chill, we going to watch tape, we going to rest our bodies. We got practice tomorrow,’” Arenas recalled.

Peterson wasn’t just talking about putting in work, either. Arenas said the future Jazz guard organized mini-workouts, including calf raises, and made a point of showing up early for the team bus.

“He was no games from the beginning,” Arenas said.

A reputation Peterson is bringing to Utah

That same mindset looks to have followed Peterson to the NBA.

The No. 2 overall pick has already earned praise from Utah’s veterans for the way he is approaching his first season. During training camp, veteran center Jusuf Nurkić said Peterson showed a level of maturity he hadn’t seen from a player his age in his 13 NBA seasons.

“When I see a person like that and a player like that, I really want to help him,” Nurkić said. “I think so far, he’s been nothing but great. … Everyone loves him.”

The big man also mentioned Peterson’s work ethic has even reached the point where teammates sometimes have to encourage him to leave the gym.

Head coach Will Hardy has noticed the same approach from the rookie.

“I’ve learned that Darryn is incredibly professional for a very young age in his career,” Hardy said at media day. “He already has a very detailed routine. You know, when we say ‘professional habits,’ really what we’re talking about is having a routine. He’s a very serious young man when it comes to the work he’s doing every day and has shown the ability to be a fast learner.”

Hardy added, “He’s competitive, tough, excited to be here and a great teammate. His transition to our Utah family has been pretty seamless.”

For Peterson, that discipline is part of adjusting to a new level of competition. The Jazz have made it clear they want to give their young players room to develop, and Peterson has the benefit of learning alongside experienced teammates.

Peterson has welcomed the chance to learn from the Jazz’s veterans as he adjusts to the NBA.

“Now, I got vets that are like adults, so it’s different from my older teammates in college that are like in my age realm,” Peterson said. “But now I feel like I have a couple of mentors and people that are super like-minded with me now.”

The early praise is encouraging for a Jazz team looking to take a step forward after four seasons of rebuilding. Still, Peterson is a rookie, and there will be plenty of adjustments as he gets used to the speed and physicality of the NBA.

Peterson shows what he can do on the court

Peterson’s first two preseason games have offered an early look at both his potential and the work still ahead.

He scored three points on 1-of-5 shooting in his preseason debut against the Denver Nuggets on Oct. 4. Two days later, he bounced back with a team-high 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting in a 117-106 loss to the same team.

Although Peterson made just one of his six 3-point attempts, he found other ways to score, using his footwork, midrange game and ability to create space against defenders.

At media day, Peterson acknowledged the physical jump to the NBA level while trying to stay aggressive in games.

“The defenders are longer, stronger, faster now, so … I got to get high arc on these shots, so I got to be able to play through contact … trying not to take a back seat as a rookie, you know, trying to come in and do my thing,” Peterson said.

It’s a small sample, but the second performance showed why Utah was so high on Peterson coming into the draft.

The Jazz will also have to navigate the start of the season without Nurkić, who is expected to be re-evaluated after four weeks with a partial plantar plate tear in his right foot. His absence puts more responsibility on new big man Jaxson Hayes and the rest of Utah’s frontcourt to help fill the void while the team works through its early-season rotations.

Peterson’s development will be another important part of that process, even as the Jazz work to avoid putting too much on the rookie’s shoulders too soon.

A familiar comparison to Gilbert Arenas

There’s another connection between Peterson and Arenas beyond the former All-Star’s story about his work ethic.

Following Peterson’s 23-point preseason performance, former NBA guard Danny Green compared the rookie to Arenas during an appearance on ESPN’s “NBA Today.”

“He reminds me a lot of Gilbert,” Green said, while noting Peterson still has room to develop.

The comparison speaks to Peterson’s scoring potential. Arenas built his reputation as a guard who could create his own shot and score in bunches, and Peterson has shown flashes of those skills in his first two preseason games.

It’s far too early to know whether Peterson will reach that level, but his early performances have offered a glimpse of why Utah selected him No. 2 overall.

And if Arenas’ story is any indication, Peterson’s commitment to the game was already there long before he arrived in the NBA.