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History[]
In 1974 the Jazz franchise began in New Orleans, Louisiana. Though Pete 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, which had previously supported the Utah Stars of the American Basketball Association from 1970 through 1975. The Jazz's attendance actually declined slightly after the team's move from New Orleans to Salt Lake City, due to a late approval for the move (June 1979) and poor marketing in the Salt Lake City area. [1][2] The reasons for the move were more financial, with a horrible arena lease and losses totaling $5 million in 5 seasons in New Orleans.[3]
Although the team nickname was not fitting for Salt Lake City at the time, with Utah not being known for its jazz culture like New Orleans was, the franchise decided to keep it. One fan quipped that "This is interesting, Utah has the Jazz and New Orleans has the Saints," referring to the facts that New Orleans' NFL team was named the Saints, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was headquartered in Utah
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 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons, the Jazz barely scraped into the playoffs. In 1986, the Jazz traded Adrian Dantley to Detroit. During the next few seasons, the Jazz began to establish themselves as a respectable team in their own. Mark Eaton was perhaps one of the best defensive players of the era, while Stockton and Malone soon became superstars. Stockton and Malone developed into an almost unstoppable combo, 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 1988-89 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.
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 1990-91, the Jazz acquired Jeff Malone, and after the 1991-92 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 six games. In 1993, the Jazz had a disappointing run in the playoffs again, losing to the Seattle SuperSonics in the first round. During the 1993-94 season, the Jazz traded Jeff Malone to the Philadelphia 76ers for shooting guard Jeff Hornacek, who provided high three-point and free throw shot percentage. The Jazz made the playoffs with a 53–29 record, shutting down NBA scoring leader David Robinson and San Antonio 3–1, then fought off a determined, upstart Denver Nuggets team 4–3 in the Conference semi-finals (almost blowing a 3-0 series lead), and advanced to the Conference finals, where they lost to the eventual NBA champion Houston Rockets 4–1.
In the 1994-95 season, the Jazz had amazing depth and talent at their disposal and were expected to make a serious run for the championship. The Jazz finished with a 60–22 record during the regular season. Despite this, however, the Jazz lost to the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs in five games. Big man Greg Ostertag was added to the team for the 1995-96 season, and the Jazz reached the conference finals for the third time in history, almost overcoming a 3–1 deficit and narrowly losing to the Seattle SuperSonics 4–3.
Current roster[]
Carlos Boozer
Deron Williams
Kyle Korver
Ronnie Price
Ronnie Brewer
Jason Hart
Paul Millsap
Jarron Collins
Matt Harpring
C.J. Miles
Andrei Kirilenko
Mehmet Okur
Kyryrlo Fesenko
Morris Almond
Retired Numbers[]
- 1 Frank Layden, Head Coach, 1981-88
- 4 Adrian Dantley, F, 1979-1986
- 7 Pete Maravich, G, 1974-79
- 12 John Stockton, G, 1984-2003
- 14 Jeff Hornacek, G, 1994-2000
- 32 Karl Malone, F, 1985-2003
- 35 Darryl Griffith, G, 1980-1991
- 53 Mark Eaton, C, 1982-1993
General Managers[]
Head Coaches[]
| Years | Coach | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1974-1975 | Scotty Robertson | 1–14 |
| 1974-1975 | Elgin Baylor | 0–1 |
| 1974–1977 | Bill Van Breda Kolff | 74–100 |
| 1977–1979 | Elgin Baylor | 86–134 |
| 1979–1981 | Tom Nissalke | 60–124 |
| 1981–1988 | Frank Layden | 277–294 |
| 1988–present | Jerry Sloan | 1001–602 |
| 1974–2007 | Total | 1499–1269 |
Awards[]
MVP[]
Rookie of the Year[]
Record Per Season[]
All Time Records[]
Career Records[]
- Games: John Stockton (1,504)
- Minutes Played: Karl Malone (53,479)
- Field Goals Made: Karl Malone (13,335)
- Field Goal Attempts: Karl Malone (25,810)
- 3-Point Field Goals Made: John Stockton (845)
- 3-Point Field Goal Attempts: John Stockton (2,203)
- Free Throws Made: Karl Malone (9,619)
- Free Throw Attempts: Karl Malone (12,963)
- Offensive Rebounds: Karl Malone (3,501)
- Defensive Rebounds: Karl Malone (11,100)
- Total Rebounds: Karl Malone (14,601)
- Assists*: John Stockton (15,806)
- Steals*: John Stockton (3,265)
- Blocked Shots: Mark Eaton (3,064)
- Turnovers: Karl Malone (4,421)
- Personal Fouls: Karl Malone (4,462)
- Points: Karl Malone (36,374)
Per Game Records[]
- Minutes Played: Truck Robinson (43.35)
- Field Goals Made: Adrian Dantley (10.65)
- Field Goal Attempts: Pete Maravich (22.75)
- 3-Point Field Goals Made: Jeff Hornacek (0.92)
- 3-Point Field Goal Attempts: Bryon Russell (2.32)
- Free Throws Made: Adrian Dantley (8.27)
- Free Throw Attempts: Adrian Dantley (10.11)
- Offensive Rebounds: Truck Robinson (3.50)
- Defensive Rebounds: Truck Robinson (11.42)
- Total Rebounds: Truck Robinson (14.92)
- Assists: John Stockton (10.51)
- Steals: John Stockton (2.17)
- Blocked Shots: Mark Eaton (3.50)
- Turnovers: Pete Maravich (4.25)
- Personal Fouls: Danny Schayes (3.85)
- Points: Adrian Dantley (29.58)
Video Gallery[]
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Picture Gallery[]
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