Utah Jazz

The Utah Jazz is a professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). more...

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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 at their respective positions.

Home arenas

• Loyola Field House (New Orleans)(1974-1975)
• Municipal Auditorium (New Orleans) (1974-1975)
• Louisiana Superdome (1975-1979)
• Salt Palace (1979-1991)
• Delta Center (1991-present)

Franchise history

Early years

Utah Jazz Early Years

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 seasons, 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.

Read more at Wikipedia.org