In Russia, Andrei Kirilenko says, there’s an old maxim about changing jobs every six years. He’s not sure where it comes from, but since 2008, it’s applied to even the office of the Russian president. It doesn’t matter who you are — six years, and it’s time for something new.

Maybe it’s that idea that makes Kirilenko describe his time in Utah as an overachievement, perhaps even an overstaying of his welcome. Today, there are 49 active NBA players who debuted in or before Kirilenko’s first season (2001-02), and in that span, those players have played for an average of 4.7 teams. Kirilenko was permitted 10 seasons in Utah, 726 games in the same uniform, and 711 of them for the same boss, Jerry Sloan.

By the end of Kirilenko's days in Salt Lake City, his stay had spoiled. When he returned to the NBA after spending last year’s lockout-shortened season in Russia, it had to be somewhere new. The Jazz had moved on, and Kirilenko knew it was time for him to do the same.

The Jazz look to be settling in as a solid bottom-four playoff seed in the Western Conference, though with Golden State off to a surprising 17-8 start, making the playoffs at all is no guarantee for the incumbent No. 8 seed. Utah is 14-12 after an exciting road win last night in Brooklyn. Before the game, head coach Tyrone Corbin huddled up for an extended one-on-one with Grantland about Utah’s rotation, its two big impending free agents, his computer-science degree, and lots of other stuff. Below, an edited transcript of our chat.

I love the big lineup, with Paul Millsap at small forward, if only because it’s different from what most teams do. We haven’t seen it since [Derrick] Favors’s foot issues started popping up. Are you going to bring it back?

Yeah, we’ll have it in the bag when the time presents itself. We’ve gotta make sure the matchups are correct. At some point, though, we’d like to use it to force our will on other teams.

In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports on Thursday.

• LeBron James scored 32 points, including four in the critical final minutes, as the Heat evened the NBA Finals with a 100-96 win over the Thunder. In the aftermath, tragedy struck when James Harden was hooked, reeled in, and fried by avid fisherman Karl Malone. "When I saw him flopping around on the TV, I knew this would be my greatest challenge yet," said Malone. "But I baited him with a flavored referee's whistle, and man, he was all over it."

In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports on Thursday.

• Dwyane Wade scored 40 points and LeBron James added 28 as the Heat advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals with a 105-93 win over the Pacers and a 4-2 series win. In the losing locker room, Tyler Hansbrough could barely contain a smile as he took a giant bucket of quarters out of his locker. "I guess I'll see you losers at the arcade," he yelled, strutting out the door. He poked his head back once to see if anyone was following him, but nobody was.