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The Utah Jazz is a National
Basketball Association team based in Salt
Lake City, Utah. The team was originally the
New Orleans Jazz but was financially unsuccessful
and moved to Utah. The Jazz was one of the most
successful teams in the late 1980s
and 1990s,
making it to two NBA
Finals in 1997
and 1998
under coach Jerry
Sloan and anchored by John
Stockton and Karl
Malone, a point
guard/power
forward combination noted for its remarkable
on-court rapport. Malone and Stockton were often
seen as two of the best players as their respective
positions.
The Real Salt Lake Major League
Soccer team (Pronounced "Re-Al"), Utah Blaze Arena
Football League team, and the Utah Jazz are the
only major professional sport teams based in Utah.
Home arenas
- Municipal
Auditorium (New Orleans) (1974-1975)
- Louisiana
Superdome (1975-1979)
- Salt
Palace (1979-1991)
- Delta
Center(1991-present)
Franchise history
Early years
In 1974
the Jazz franchise began in New
Orleans. The franchise proved unsuccessful,
both on the court and financially, even though they
had "Pistol" Pete
Maravich as the star player. Though Maravich
was viewed as one of the NBA's most entertaining
and talented players, the Jazz were continually
a losing team. After five losing seasons in New
Orleans, they moved to Salt
Lake City, Utah in 1979.
Although the team nickname was not fitting for Salt
Lake City, with Utah having a nearly non-existent
Jazz
culture, the franchise decided to keep it. Before
the 1979-1980
season, Utah obtained high scoring guard/forward
Adrian
Dantley from the Los
Angeles Lakers. Maravich was waived during the
season. With the #2 draft pick in 1980,
they obtained Darrell
Griffith from the University
of Louisville. During the 1980-1981
season, Frank
Layden became the head coach, and in 1982,
the Jazz selected big man Mark
Eaton in the fourth round of the draft. These
four additions to the team would serve to set the
seeds for the future success for the team. Depite
these additions, however, the team continued to
languish toward the bottom of the standings. During
the 1983
NBA Draft, the Jazz selected Thurl
Bailey out of North
Carolina State University in the first round.
He would eventually become a key contributor to
the team. During the 1983-1984
season, they Jazz finally clicked, going 45-37 in
their first winning season ever, winning the Midwest
Division and advancing to the playoffs, beginning
their streak of 20 consecutive appearances. In the
playoffs they advanced to the second round, where
they lost to the Phoenix
Suns.
Jazz success
In 1984,
the Jazz drafted point
guard John
Stockton from Gonzaga
University and the next year added the second
half of one of the NBA's greatest pairings in power
forward Karl
Malone from Louisiana
Tech. In both the 1984-1985
and 1985-1986
seasons, the Jazz barely scraped into the playoffs.
In 1986,
the Jazz traded Adrian
Dantley. During the next few season, the Jazz
began to establish themselves as a respectable team
in their own. Mark Eaton was perhaps the best defensive
player of the era while Stockton and Malone soon
became superstars. Stockton and Malone developed
a remarkable rapport with each other, running pick-and-roll
plays with great success. "Stockton to Malone" became
a common phrase, as Stockton regularly found ways
to pass the ball to Malone in good scoring position.
Despite the regular season successes, however, the
Jazz were never able to advance past the second
round of the NBA playoffs during the 1980s.
During the 1988-1989
season, Frank
Layden stepped down as head coach to become
president of the Utah Jazz. Assistant coach Jerry
Sloan took over head coaching duties. Sloan
guided the Jazz to their first 50-win season ever
with a 51-31 record, also winning the Midwest Division.
Once again, however, the Jazz flopped in the postseason,
losing to the Golden
State Warriors in the first round.
1990s
Throughout the early 1990s,
the Jazz's playoff woes continued, with the Jazz
losing in the first round in 1990
to the Phoenix
Suns and in the second round in 1991
to the Portland
Trail Blazers. In 1990-1991,
the Jazz acquired Jeff
Malone, and after the 1991-1992
season they waived veteran Darrell
Griffith. In 1991
the Jazz also moved out of the old Salt
Palace and into the new Delta
Center. In 1992,
the Jazz finally made it to the conference finals,
losing to the Portland
Trail Blazers. In 1993,
the Jazz had a disappointing run in the playoffs
again, losing to the Seattle
SuperSonics in the first round. During the 1993-1994
season, the Jazz traded Jeff
Malone to the Philadelphia
76ers for shooting
guard Jeff
Hornacek, who provided outstanding three-point
and free throw shot percentage. The Jazz again advanced
to the conference finals, where they lost to the
eventual champion Houston
Rockets 4-1.
In the 1994-1995
season, the Jazz had amazing depth and talent at
their disposal and were expected to make a serious
run for the championship. Despite this, however,
the Jazz lost to the Houston
Rockets in the first round of the playoffs.
Big man Greg
Ostertag and long-range shooter Bryon
Russell were added to the team for the 1995-1996
season, and the Jazz reached the conference finals
for the third time in history, almost overcoming
a 3-1 defecit and narrowly losing to the Seattle
SuperSonics 4-3.
In the next two seasons, the Jazz
were finally able to capitalize on their regular
season success. In 1996-1997,
the Jazz had a legendary team, with such players
as Stockton, Malone, Hornacek, Russell, Ostertag,
Antoine
Carr, Howard
Eisley, and Shandon
Anderson. The Jazz had their best record in
franchise history at 64-18. They finally reached
the NBA Finals for the first time ever after sweeping
the Los
Angeles Clippers, Los
Angeles Lakers 4-1, and Houston
Rockets 4-2 to meet Michael
Jordan and the Chicago
Bulls 69-13 in the NBA Finals. A three-pointer
at the buzzer by John
Stockton in Game 6 of the 1997
Western Conference Championship sent the Jazz to
the finals. This shot remains one of the highlight
shots of the Jazz franchise. In the 1997
NBA Finals, the Jazz lost to the Chicago
Bulls 4-2 after fighting the first four games
to a 2-2 tie and losing the last two in the last
seconds of the game 90-88 and 90-86. Karl
Malone won the MVP
for the regular season for the first time ever.
During the offseason, the Jazz,
happy with their success, made no significant changes
to their roster. During the 1997-1998
season, expectations were high for another championship
run. However, John
Stockton suffered a serious knee injury before
the season began and missed the first 18 games.
Despite the setback, the Jazz were still able to
finish at 62-20. In the playoffs they beat the Houston
Rockets 3-2, the San
Antonio Spurs 4-1, and the Los
Angeles Lakers 4-0 to advance to their second
NBA Finals appearance in a row. In the 1998
NBA Championship, the Jazz took Game 1 at home
88-85 but the Bulls overcame a slow start to win
Game 2 93-88, easily took Game 3 96-54 and won a
closer Game 4 86-82 to lead 3-1 in the series but
the Jazz won Game 5 83-81 at the United Center and
the series swung back to Salt Lake City, where the
Jazz had always been dominant. The Jazz held a lead
in most of Game 6, but the Bulls rallied, and in
the last seconds of the game, Michael
Jordan faked Bryon
Russell and swished a jump shot with 5.2 seconds
left to win their sixth NBA Championship 87-86 in
eight years 4-2. This shot is one of the most famous
shots in history and highlights the Jazz's struggles
in the postseason, despite their overall, consistent
success.
In the 1999
season, shortened to 50 games due to a lockout,
the Jazz finished the season 37-13, tied with the
San
Antonio Spurs for the best record in the league.
However, they again lost in the second round of
the playoffs to the Portland
Trail Blazers. Despite yet another disappointment,
Karl
Malone was awarded his second MVP.
2000s
During the 1999-2000
season, the Jazz won the Midwest Division but once
again struggled in the postseason, losing to the
Portland
Trail Blazers, again during the second round.
During the offseason, Jeff
Hornacek retired and Howard
Eisley was traded in a four-team deal that brought
in Donyell
Marshall. They selected promising high school
basketball star DeShawn
Stevenson in the first round of the NBA Draft.
In the 2000-2001
season, they went 53-29, but their playoff woes
once again struck when they blew a 2-0 series lead
in the first round of the playoffs to the Dallas
Mavericks.
In the 2001-2002
season, Andrei
Kirilenko made his rookie debut, but overall
the Jazz began to show their age and dwindling talent.
The Jazz finished just 44-38 and lost to the Sacramento
Kings 3-1 in the first round of the playoffs.
In 2002-2003,
Donyell
Marshall and Bryon
Russell moved on to other teams. Matt
Harpring, however, was brought over from the
Philadelphia
76ers, contributing to the offense and experiencing
his best season. The Jazz barely scraped through
into the playoffs, going 47-35 and again losing
to the Sacramento
Kings 4-1. After the season, the end of an era
came when John
Stockton retired and Karl
Malone moved to the Los
Angeles Lakers in the hunt for a championship
ring with three other future Hall-of-Famers. The
Lakers were beaten in the Finals.
In the 2003–2004
season, the Jazz were expected to be one of the
weakest teams in the NBA, but instead they greatly
exceeded most analysts' expectations. The team featured
several unheralded players who emerged into key
contributors, including Andrei
Kirilenko, Raja
Bell, Matt
Harpring, and Carlos
Arroyo. In particular, Andrei Kirilenko demonstrated
tremendous versatility on both offense and defense
and earned a spot in the All-Star
Game. Kirilenko helped the team late into the
season's playoff hunt, in which the Jazz missed
out by just one game to the Denver
Nuggets, ending their streak of 20 consecutive
seasons in the playoffs. Jerry
Sloan finished second in the voting for the
NBA
Coach of the Year Award, losing to Hubie
Brown of the Memphis
Grizzlies.
In the 2004
offseason, the Jazz obtained free
agents Carlos
Boozer (from the Cleveland
Cavaliers) and Mehmet
Okur (from the Detroit
Pistons) and traded Ostertag to the Sacramento
Kings. The franchise was again expected to contend
in the West. The season began well for the Jazz,
but a series of injuries, first to Arroyo and Raul
Lopez, and later to Boozer and Kirilenko, caused
the team to fall to the bottom of the division.
There were rumors of internal discontent between
the younger players and Sloan, leading to the trading
away of Arroyo mid-season to the Detroit
Pistons in exchange for Elden
Campbell (who was immediately waived). They
ended the 2004-2005
season with a record of 26-56, their worst since
the 1981–1982
season.
In the summer of 2005,
the Jazz continued to shape their roster by dispatching
some of their underperforming young players and
trading three draft picks in order to acquire the
#3 pick overall, point guard phenom Deron
Williams of the University
of Illinois. Raja
Bell left the team for the Phoenix
Suns and the Jazz re-obtained Greg Ostertag
from the Kings and dealt promising point
guard Raul
Lopez to the Memphis
Grizzlies and shooting guard Kirk
Snyder to the New
Orleans Hornets as part of the largest trade
in NBA history.
Players of note
Not To Be Forgotten
Retired numbers
- 1 Frank
Layden, Head Coach, 1981-88
- 7 Pete
Maravich, G, 1974-79 (traded in team's first
season in Utah)
- 12 John
Stockton, G, 1984-2003
- 14 Jeff
Hornacek, G, 1994-2000
- 32 Karl
Malone, F, 1985-2005
- 35 Darrell
Griffith, G, 1980-91
- 53 Mark
Eaton, C, 1982-93
Broadcasters
Current roster
Coaches
External links
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