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Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz are a National Basketball Association team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. - Founded: 1974
- Formerly known as: New Orleans Jazz (1974-79)
- Home Arena: Delta Center
- Uniform colors: Purple and blue
- Logo design: The word "JAZZ" superimposed over a mountain inside a gold ring with the word "UTAH" at the top
- NBA Championships: None
Franchise history The Jazz franchise began in New Orleans in 1974, but they were unsuccessful, even with "Pistol" Pete Maravich as the star player. He was often considered one of the most entertaining and talented players, but nevertheless, the Jazz were continually a losing team. After four losing seasons in New Orleans, they moved to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1979. In Utah they continued at or near the bottom of the standings until the 1983-1984 season, when they won the division and made it to the second round of the playoffs. In 1984 the Jazz drafted John Stockton from Gonzaga, and in 1985 they drafted Karl Malone from Louisiana Tech. Neither pick was well received by fans. However, with Frank Layden and later Jerry Sloan coaching the team, these moves paid off. They became one of the most successful teams throughout the late 80's and all through the 90's. John Stockton eventually set records for the most steals, assists, and games played with one team in NBA history and became one of the most successful point guards in history. After playing together for several years, Stockton and Malone established a remarkable in-game connection on the court, with Stockton frequently passing to Malone for a Malone score. Soon "Stockton to Malone" became one of the most well-known sayings in the NBA. They were supported by other good players such as Mark Eaton, Adrian Dantley, Jeff Malone, and later Jeff Hornacek, Bryon Russell, and Howard Eisley, to name just a few. This combination created one of the most elite teams in the league. Eventually, Malone earned the record for the second most points in NBA history, and received MVP awards in 1997 and 1999. Jeff Hornacek also became a renowned player through the '90's, and was one of the best three-point and free throw shooters in the league. He retired in 2000. However, the Utah Jazz, despite making 20 consecutive playoff appearances (1983 to 2003), never won a championship, losing to the Chicago Bulls four games to two in 1997 and again in 1998. After that they faded in the standings, although they continued to make the playoffs until 2003, after which Stockton retired and Malone moved to the Los Angeles Lakers, hoping to receive a championship ring. In the 2003 to 2004 season, the Jazz were expected to be one of the worst teams in the league. However, they shattered all expectations under no-namers Andrei Kirilenko, Raja Bell, Matt Harpring, Gordan Giricek, Carlos Arroyo and Ral Lpez. They were in the playoff race to the end of the season, missing out by just one game to the Denver Nuggets. Jerry Sloan was second place in the voting for the NBA Coach of the Year Award, losing to Hubie Brown of the Memphis Grizzlies. In the 2004 offseason, with the surprise additions of Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur, they are once again expected to be serious contenders in the West, and are often hailed for making the best offseason moves of any team. In the 2004 - 2005 season, with the realigment to introduce a 30th team, the Jazz were transferred to the Northwest Division with the Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Seattle Sonics. The 2004 - 2005 season began on a high note with the Jazz starting 6-1 with all-star like performances from Boozer and Kirilenko. The Jazz soon got Carlos Arroyo back, who missed the first few games to injury, but the Jazz began to slump, falling to 8-5 when the situation only worsened when Kirilenko was injured on November 27. He missed the next 26 games before returning against the Memphis Grizzlies on January 22. However, by this time, the Jazz had fallen to a record of 14-26, and even after Kirilenko returned their situation did not improve much. On top of this, Arroyo had been underperforming and had fallen to last in the point guard rotation. He was traded to the Detroit Pistons on January 21 in exchange for Elden Campbell (who was soon waived) and a future first-round draft pick. By this time the situation for the Jazz had only worsened as they went on a nine game losing streak from December 22 until beating the San Antonio Spurs (for the first time since January of 2000) on January 10 and then moved on to beat the league-best Phoenix Suns. However, these small successes did not help their overall situation, which eventually worsened when both Carlos Arroyo and Raul Lopez were injured within short succession of each other in late February. Both are now out for the season. This was soon followed by another nine game losing streak stretching from March 4 until March 22, when the beat the struggling Los Angeles Lakers. In the very next game, however, the injuries continued to pile up as Kirilenko was once again injured and is now out for the rest of the season. As of April 1 they have a record of 22-49 and are last in their division. Despite an extremely dissapointing season, they have seen promising performances in some of their young players, especially Gordan Giricek, Keith McLeod, and Raja Bell. Players of note Others Retired numbers Current stars Coaches Years Coach Record 1974-75 Scotty Robertson 1 - 14 1974-75 Elgin Baylor 0 - 1 1974-77 Bill Van Breda Koff 74 - 100 1977-79 Elgin Baylor 86 - 134 1979-81 Tom Nissalke 60 - 124 1981-88 Frank Layden 277 - 294 1988- Jerry Sloan 823 - 440 1974-03 1321 -1107 External links
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