Kyle Filipowski has spent most of his basketball life doing the job in front of him while something hurt. He played his freshman year at Duke on hips that needed surgery, got knocked down by a court-storming fan as a sophomore, slid out of the first round of the draft, then played 77 games for the Jazz last season, many of them at center, with a herniated disc. He's also a twin from a family of hoopers, a USA Basketball gold medalist alongside Keyonte George, and the only Jazz player ever named Summer League MVP. Right now he's the big man nobody can quite place, which is why the fan debate about him is so loud.
A family of hoopers from Orange County, N.Y.
Filipowski was born Nov. 7, 2003, in Middletown, N.Y., and grew up in nearby Westtown, per Duke's bio. Basketball runs all through the family. His father, Dave, played at Slippery Rock (1979-81), and his mother, Becky, played at Long Beach State (1982-84). An uncle played at Boston College and an aunt at Dartmouth. He's one of four brothers (Daniel, Taylor, and Matthew), and Matt is his twin.
The twins took the same route out of town. Matt, also a 7-footer, spent a year at Fordham Prep in the Bronx before Wilbraham & Monson Academy in Massachusetts, then started his college career at Harvard, per Harvard's bio. Kyle committed to Duke in July 2021 and wore No. 30 there because it was Jon Scheyer's old number, per Duke.
Wilbraham & Monson, and gold with Keyonte George
At Wilbraham & Monson he became a five-star center, the No. 10 player in ESPN's 2022 class. He led the school to the 2020 New England prep Class AA title (and was tournament MVP), was Massachusetts Gatorade Player of the Year in 2020-21, and averaged 19.1 points and 10.8 rebounds as a senior, per Duke. He also held a 4.02 GPA and played baseball and water polo.
In August 2021 he went to Debrecen, Hungary, for the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup with Keyonte George, Gradey Dick, and Eric Dailey Jr. The U.S. went 6-0, and Filipowski scored nine points in the 21-14 final against Estonia, per USA Basketball. George was tournament MVP. Filipowski's take:
"Regardless of how many wins we had, we were never satisfied until we got that gold medal. So, I'm just happy, happy for the guys, happy for myself, it's been an unbelievable experience."
Five years later, he and George share a locker room in Salt Lake City.
Duke: new hips, a court storm, and Blake Hinson
His freshman year (2022-23) was about as good as it gets. He started all 36 games, averaged 15.1 points and 8.9 rebounds, led Division I freshmen with 16 double-doubles, and became only the fourth player to be named ACC Rookie of the Year and ACC Tournament MVP in the same season (Zion Williamson was another), per Duke. Then, in April 2023, Duke announced he'd had arthroscopic surgery on both hips.
He came back to average 16.4 points and 8.3 rebounds as a sophomore and made the consensus second-team All-America. It was also the season he became a villain on ACC road trips.
On Jan. 20, 2024, Pitt won 80-76 at Cameron Indoor, and Blake Hinson celebrated by standing on the scorer's table. Filipowski called it "really disrespectful" and said Duke would "remember that for next time whenever anyone steps in the building again," per Yahoo Sports. Hinson is now a Jazz two-way player. Our take: we'd love to know whether that has come up in the film room.
A month later it got physical. After Wake Forest beat Duke 83-79 on Feb. 24, 2024, fans stormed the court and one ran into Filipowski, who hurt his knee and needed help getting to the tunnel. "I absolutely feel like it was personal. Intentional for sure," he said, per ESPN. Scheyer's response: "When are we going to ban court storming?" Filipowski played the next game, a Feb. 28 win over Louisville.
There was one more flashpoint. In Duke's March 9 loss to North Carolina, he appeared to stick out a leg and trip Harrison Ingram during a transition play. No foul was called, and CBS Sports noted he had no history of tripping. He told the AP: "My foot slipped." Ingram, as it happens, is now a Jazz teammate too (his profile).
The slide to No. 32
Filipowski got a green-room invite for the 2024 draft and then sat through the entire first round without hearing his name, one of two invitees who didn't go on night one, per ESPN. Utah took him with the second pick of the second round.
There were basketball reasons. An anonymous college coach told ESPN's Jeff Borzello that "he had the hip surgery and he was never overly mobile in the first place," per the Deseret News. ESPN also reported the morning of day two that his slide may have come from pre-draft interviews that went poorly and front-office concerns about personal matters, per KSL. Those concerns were never spelled out by a team on the record, and we won't repeat the social-media speculation that followed. The Jazz said they had done their background work: "We're excited about who he is as a person, so we're not concerned about that at all."
Utah had that pick because of a February 2024 deadline deal: the Jazz sent Simone Fontecchio to Detroit for Kevin Knox, the rights to Gabriele Procida, and a 2024 second-round pick that originally belonged to Washington, per ESPN's draft order. Filipowski took it well. "It's hard to wait a long time and not hear your name called," he told KSL. "To be honest, I'm just happy. I feel like I ended up in the right spot." Jayson Tatum posted: "Lot of teams gonna regret passing up on Flip."
The Jazz then gave him four years and $12 million, an unusually large deal for a second-rounder, with the fourth year a team option, per NBC Sports.
A rookie year, and a Summer League MVP
As a rookie on a rebuilding team he played 72 games with 27 starts and averaged 9.6 points and 6.1 rebounds, shooting 35.0% from three. His best night came on April 9, 2025: 30 points on 13-of-17 shooting, 18 rebounds, five assists, and three steals in an overtime win over Portland, per The Salt Lake Tribune.
That July he led Las Vegas Summer League in scoring at 29.3 points a game, including 35 and 11 against San Antonio, and became the first Jazz player named Summer League MVP, per the AP via ESPN. "I'm just trying to be myself out there right now," he said.
Year two: a four playing the five, in pain
What we didn't know during the 2025-26 season: he had herniated a disc in his back while training before it started and played the whole year with sciatica in his leg, per Jazz On SI. He still missed only five games, including the last two of the season with the back, per NBC Sports.
And the Jazz needed him at center. With Walker Kessler, Jusuf Nurkić, and later Jaren Jackson Jr. hurt, he started 41 games. Will Hardy was blunt about it in April, per the Deseret News:
"Kyle is not a five, but Kyle can play five. Our fives this season have not been healthy for a lot of the year...it's forcing Kyle to play more five than would be desirable."
Hardy also called him "very coachable," and Filipowski was averaging 15.7 points and 8.4 rebounds after the All-Star break at that point. He finished at 11.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 23.4 minutes, shooting 49.2% overall but 32.5% from three. Utah fully guaranteed his $3 million salary for 2026-27 in June, per Jazz On SI.
Surgery, and a quiet camp
He had surgery to repair the herniated disc after the season, and the Jazz's media day recap says the injury had limited his explosiveness and conditioning. He was upbeat on Sept. 28, per Jazz On SI:
"I mean, I'm back to normal. I'm better than what I was last year. I had to play through this all last season, and it wasn't a lot of fun."
Austin Ainge said that day he'd be cleared for camp, per Hoops Rumors, but he hasn't played yet. He sat out all three preseason games with the back (see our opener recap and our Spurs recap). After a practice last weekend, Hardy said: "It's been a long summer of rehab, and the hope is that he'll be back out there soon." There's no timeline.
That absence has started an argument on r/UtahJazz. After the Spurs game, one fan asked whether he has a role outside garbage time, doubted he can be a backup center, and suggested trading him for a true center. Others pushed back: he played those 77 games hurt, he's the best passer among the bigs other than Nurkić, he can make an open three, he's improved at using his body against traditional centers without fouling, and versatile bigs are in demand. Even the skeptic said they'd be happy to be proved wrong once he's healthy.
Role
When healthy, Filipowski is a 6-11 big who can handle, pass, and space the floor a little. He's best at the four (Hardy says so too) and playable at the five in small lineups. With Jackson, Nurkić (once his foot heals), Hayes, and Mo Bamba ahead of or around him, his job this season is backup power forward and emergency center, and the connector who keeps the second unit moving.
2026-27 prediction
Our take: he misses at least the first couple of weeks while he ramps up, then works his way into a 15-20 minute bench role by late November. A healthy back should show up first on defense and on the glass, where he looked a step slow last season. The three-point shot (32.5% last season) decides whether he's a long-term rotation piece here or a valuable trade chip.
Sources: Duke Athletics, Duke Athletics, Harvard Athletics, USA Basketball, Yahoo Sports, ESPN, CBS Sports, ESPN, ESPN, KSL, NBA.com, NBC Sports, The Salt Lake Tribune, AP via ESPN, Deseret News, Deseret News, Utah Jazz, Jazz On SI, Jazz On SI, NBC Sports, Hoops Rumors, and r/UtahJazz.