Former Tennessee basketball star Kennedy Chandler began his second stint in the NBA on Saturday. To begin his 10-day contract with the Utah Jazz, he put together an impressive showing off the bench.
Despite losing to the Philadelphia 76ers, 126-116, Chandler produced 19 points on 5-for-13 shooting from the field and 2-for-4 from three. He also recorded five rebounds, four assists and a steal with just one turnover. He played 37 minutes, the second most on the team.
By halftime, Chandler was already up to a career-high 13 points.
“He scored 19 points, but I thought he made a lot of good decisions… he moved the ball great,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said about Chandler after the game. “He’s got a good feel for timing. I thought he handled himself great… it’s not easy to do what he just did.”
Kennedy’s 𝙲𝙾𝙾𝙺𝙸𝙽’ 👨🍳
first game with the squad and he has a 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙧-𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝 13 points already! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/TjbT1vhGnW
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 22, 2026
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Chandler had played 36 games in the NBA before this year for the Memphis Grizzlies. In the 2022-23 season, he averaged 2.2 points, 1.6 assists and 1.1 rebounds in 7.8 minutes per appearance.
Chandler played just one season at Tennessee before turning pro. The freshman phenom started and appeared in 34 games while posting averages of 13.9 points, 4.7 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game.
As a result of the season, Chandler was named to the All-SEC Second-Team and SEC All-Freshman Team. He helped lead the Vols to an SEC Tournament title, claiming SEC Tournament MVP.
As a 3-seed in the NCAA Tournament, Tennessee defeated 14-seed Longwood in the Round of 64. However, 6-seed Michigan upset the Vols in the Round of 32 to cut the season short. Chandler declared for the NBA draft and went 38th overall in the second round, with his rights going to the Grizzlies.
Chandler is from Memphis, Tennessee. He was a consensus five-star and top-10-ranked recruit in the 2021 class. He picked UT over Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky and Memphis.
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