The Story Of The
Jazz -- A Lot Of Sweet Music
1974-75: New Orleans's First Player Has
Local Flavor
1975-76: Maravich Leads As Team Improves
1976-78: Elgin Baylor Takes Over As Head
Coach
1978-79: Spencer For Hire
1979-80: Can There Be Jazz In Utah?
1980-81: "Dr. Dunkenstein"
1981-83: Layden Takes Over; Better Days
Are Ahead
1983-84: Dantley Makes History; Jazz Make
Playoffs
1984-85: John Who?
1985-86: "The Mailman" Delivers A Winning
Season
1986-88: End Of An Era: Dantley Traded
1988-89: Layden Steps Down; Sloan Steps
In
1989-90: Postseason Not Kind to Jazz
1990-91: Jazz Acquire A Second Malone
1991-92: Home Sweet Home
1992-93: A "Dream" For Malone And Stockton,
A Nightmare For The Jazz
1993-94: Dynamic Duo Leads Jazz To Conference
Finals
1994-95: Playoffs Again Problematical
1995-96: One Game Away
1996-97: Fine Tuned Squad Finds Way To
Finals
1997-98: Jazz and Blues: Terrific Season
Ends in Heartbreak
1998-99: Mailman Delivers Another MVP
1999-2000: Jazz Remain Postseason Poster
Boys
2000-01: Fresh Look for the Jazz
2001-02: Season of Milestones
2002-03: Stockton's Final Season
The Story Of The Jazz -- A Lot of Sweet Music
The Utah Jazz began as the New Orleans Jazz in 1974,
then struggled through a decade at the bottom before
emerging as perennial contenders in the late 1980s and
early 1990s. The original Jazz lineup featured high-scoring
Hall of Famer "Pistol Pete" Maravich, one of the most
entertaining players in NBA history. In its later incarnation
as the Utah Jazz, the team's main drawing cards have
been scoring machine Adrian Dantley; Darrell Griffith,
basketball's "Dr. Dunkenstein"; guard John Stockton,
whom many observers consider the best passer in league
history; and Karl Malone, a forward who has combined
power and grace to become one of the dominant stars
of his era.
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1974-75: New Orleans's First Player Has Local Flavor
On March 7, 1974, the New Orleans Jazz became the 18th
member of the NBA in return for a $6.15-million expansion
franchise fee. In a trade with the Atlanta Hawks, the
Jazz acquired the flashy 6-5 Maravich as the team's
first player. Aaron James was the club's initial selection
in the NBA Draft, and the Jazz filled out the roster
with veterans plucked from other teams in the 1974 NBA
Expansion Draft. The opening lineup included E. C. Coleman,
Bud Stallworth, Walt Bellamy, Stu Lantz, and Maravich.
The organization hired Scotty Robertson as head coach
and named future Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor as one of
Robertson's assistants.
In its first NBA regular-season game, New Orleans lost
to the New York Knicks, 89-74, producing a point total
that remained the lowest in club history throughout
the next two decades. The team then lost 10 more contests
before picking up its first victory against the Portland
Trail Blazers on November 10. With the Jazz at 1-14
on November 17 the team dismissed Robertson and hired
Butch van Breda Kolff as head coach.
Maravich became the club's marquee attraction and top
scoring threat. At Louisiana State he had rewritten
the NCAA record books, averaging 44.2 points in his
four collegiate seasons. In the pros, Maravich was a
showman. He wore a signature pair of floppy good-luck
sweatsocks that always appeared to need washing. He
shot the ball from anywhere and everywhere. He never
made a simple pass when he could make an entertaining
one, so his assists regularly came from behind the back
or through the legs.
The team ended the 1974-75 season with a 23-59 record,
last in the Central Division and 37 games behind the
first-place Washington Bullets. The fledgling Jazz actually
held their own at home with a 20-21 record, but they
were only 3-38 on the road. The squad stumbled through
four losing months and possessed a 5-42 record at the
end of January. Then, inexplicably, the Jazz rang up
a 10-5 mark in February. Maravich hit for a season-high
47 points against Atlanta on February 8, and the team
scored a season-high 126 points against the Philadelphia
76ers on March 19.
Maravich led the team in scoring with 21.5 points per
game, and 6-8 E. C. Coleman was the Jazz's leading rebounder
with 7.1 boards per contest. Aaron James, a 6-8, 210-pound
rookie from Grambling, was also a key contributor, averaging
11.7 points and 4.8 rebounds. However, the rest of the
New Orleans roster was in constant flux, with 22 players
suiting up at one time or another during the year.
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1975-76: Maravich Leads As Team Improves
With the seventh overall pick in the 1975 NBA Draft,
New Orleans selected 7-foot center Rich Kelley from
Stanford. Kelley didn't contribute much as a rookie,
but the 1975-76 edition of the Jazz finished out of
the cellar with a record of 38-44, nine games ahead
of Atlanta.
New Orleans lost its season opener to the Hawks, then
ran off a six-game winning streak. But when Maravich
missed 20 games in November and December, the team slumped
as it relied on Ron Behagen, Louie Nelson, and Henry
Bibby to provide scoring leadership. After Maravich
returned he led the squad in scoring in all but eight
games, including a 49-point effort against the Golden
State Warriors on February 10.
Maravich earned a berth on the All-NBA First Team.
His scoring average of 25.9 points per game ranked third
in the NBA behind the Buffalo Braves' Bob McAdoo (31.1
ppg) and the Los Angeles Lakers' Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
(27.7). Veteran Otto Moore, at 6-11, and Behagen, at
6-9 but only 185 pounds, were tough on the boards, pulling
down 9.8 and 8.4 rebounds per game, respectively.
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1976-77: Elgin Baylor Takes Over As Head Coach
In 1976-77 New Orleans slipped slightly to a 35-47
mark despite the efforts of Maravich, who was the league's
top scorer with an average of 31.1 points per game.
Although Pistol Pete was the main gunner, the team had
other weapons, such as Aaron James, who averaged 10.9
points and made 10 of 11 shots in an October 30 game
against the Knicks. Eleven-year veteran guard Gail Goodrich
(12.6 ppg) also provided scoring and stability after
coming over from the Lakers.
The Jazz changed coaches two months into the season,
dismissing van Breda Kolff and elevating Elgin Baylor
from his assistant coaching position. New Orleans was
14-12 at the time of the change and finished 21-35 under
Baylor.
The team was inconsistent but Maravich was steady,
with occasional bursts of greatness. In a February 25
win over the Knicks he set a Jazz single-game scoring
record with 68 points. He also set team marks with 26
made field goals and 43 field-goal attempts in that
same contest. Pistol Pete likewise set club single-season
records for scoring average and field-goal attempts
(2,047). He made his third appearance in the NBA All-Star
Game and at season's end was selected to the All-NBA
First Team. At the other end of the court, E. C. Coleman
was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team.
New Orleans had another up-and-down season in 1977-78,
finishing 39-43 and occupying the familiar second-to-last
position in the Central Division. After battling to
an 11-10 record through November, the Jazz went sour
in December, falling to 3-10 for the month. In the new
year the club turned things around to win 10 straight,
but on January 31 Maravich injured his knee making a
between-the-legs pass, thereby robbing the team of its
most potent offensive force. He appeared in only three
games for the remainder of the season and would never
again play with the same abandon. With Maravich sidelined
the team stumbled to an 11-18 mark during the next two
months.
On April 9 the Jazz set the franchise's single-game
scoring mark by pouring in 153 points in a victory over
the San Antonio Spurs. However, that total is somewhat
deceptive. On the final day of the season the Spurs'
George Gervin was locked in a race for the NBA season
scoring title with the Denver Nuggets' David Thompson.
Thompson had scored 73 points in an afternoon game against
the Pistons at Detroit; Gervin needed 61 for the crown.
That evening nobody played much defense in the New Orleans-San
Antonio game, and Gervin popped in 63 points to claim
the scoring title. Maravich didn't play enough games
to qualify for the title, but his average was not far
behind the leaders at 27.0 points per game.
The 1977-78 season featured some sparkling individual
performances by muscular newcomer Leonard "Truck" Robinson,
a 6-7, 225-pound forward who went ballistic on the boards
for a couple of months in midseason. On October 28 against
the Phoenix Suns he grabbed 25 rebounds to match the
team record shared by Otto Moore and Paul Griffin. During
the next two months Robinson turned in seven 20-rebound
performances, including a club-record total of 27 twice,
on November 11 against the Lakers and on December 7
against the Indiana Pacers. He led the NBA and set franchise
records for defensive rebounds (990), total rebounds
(1,288), and rebounding average (15.7 rpg), while becoming
the first Jazz player to go over 1,000 rebounds for
a season. Robinson also scored 22.7 points per game
and was named to the All-NBA First Team.
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1978-79: Spencer For Hire
New Orleans returned to the cellar in 1978-79 with
an NBA-worst 26-56 record. The Jazz failed to produce
a winning month, didn't win a single season series against
an opponent, and prevailed in only four road games all
year.
Some of the team's problems occurred because their
best player was traded at midseason. In January the
Jazz dealt All-NBA forward Truck Robinson to Phoenix
for guard Ron Lee, forward Marty Byrnes, two first-round
draft picks, and cash. It was bad timing, since Pete
Maravich continued to struggle through his rehabilitation
following knee surgery and sat out the final 21 contests
of the season. New Orleans picked up Spencer Haywood
from the Knicks for the final 34 games, and Haywood
contributed 24.0 points and 9.6 rebounds per game in
his stint with the Jazz.
There were a few highlights. On November 5 against
the Milwaukee Bucks, Gail Goodrich set a club record
with 19 assists (later broken by Rickey Green and John
Stockton). And in a game against Phoenix on February
17, Aaron James hit 11 of 11 field-goal attempts to
set the franchise single-game accuracy mark.
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1979-80: Can There Be Jazz In Utah?
At the end of the 1978-79 season the Jazz's ownership
announced plans to move from New Orleans to Salt Lake
City, Utah. Around the league the news was met with
raised eyebrows and predictable jokes about taking a
team named the Jazz into the staid atmosphere of Salt
Lake City. Apart from the incongruity of the team's
nickname, there were more serious concerns regarding
whether the club could win the affection of fans previously
loyal to the American Basketball Association's Utah
Stars, who had disbanded after the 1974-75 season.
With Baylor out as head coach and Tom Nissalke in,
the premiere Utah Jazz team didn't give fans much to
cheer about in 1979-80, finishing at 24-58. The team
wasn't competitive, but it began to collect the building
blocks for the future. One of the most important of
those blocks was Frank Layden, a portly, colorful individual
who would mold the character and quality of the Jazz
for the next decade. Layden, who had served the previous
three seasons as an assistant coach with the Atlanta
Hawks, was asked by Jazz ownership to become the team's
first general manager in Utah. By the mid-1980s Layden
(who would become head coach in 1981) had transformed
the Jazz into consistent winners.
In another key move before the season, Utah sent Spencer
Haywood to the Los Angeles Lakers for fourth-year guard-forward
Adrian Dantley. A 6-5 scoring machine, Dantley proved
to be a high-powered replacement for Maravich, who played
only 17 games before being waived on January 17. Dantley
averaged 28.0 points for the season, ranking third in
the NBA behind George Gervin and World B. Free (formerly
Lloyd B. Free). Dantley also set a Jazz single-season
record for field-goal percentage at .576. Still, the
Jazz finished last in the league in team scoring, averaging
102.4 points per game.
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1980-81: "Dr. Dunkenstein"
The team still needed offensive punch. So with the
second pick in the 1980 NBA Draft the Jazz selected
College Player of the Year Darrell Griffith from the
University of Louisville. Griffith, a 6-4 guard, was
both a high-flying slam dunker (he was nicknamed "Dr.
Dunkenstein") and a deadly three-point shooter.
In the 1980-81 season Griffith and Dantley provided
a potent one-two scoring punch as they combined for
51.3 points per game. Unfortunately, that was more than
half of Utah's total production; the squad averaged
a franchise-low 101.2 points per game. The team improved
its record slightly, to 28-54, and also managed to leapfrog
over the expansion Dallas Mavericks and out of the Midwest
Division basement.
For the most part, though, it was another season of
waiting and hoping for a brighter future. On the positive
side, Dantley made his second consecutive All-Star Game
appearance and won the NBA scoring championship with
an average of 30.7 points per game. On February 6 he
hit for 55 points against Denver. Griffith averaged
20.6 points and was named NBA Rookie of the Year.
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1981-83: Layden Takes Over; Better Days Are Ahead
Utah struggled again in 1981-82, finishing at 25-57.
After an 8-12 start Frank Layden replaced Tom Nissalke
as head coach, a position Layden would hold until 1988.
The team suffered through a winless March, part of a
club-record 18-game losing streak, and yielded 116.6
points per game. Dantley continued to carry the team,
scoring 30.3 points per game, third best in the NBA.
He ranked sixth in the league in field-goal percentage
(.570) and had a 53-point night on April 10 against
Denver. Rickey Green, a 6-1 guard, finished sixth in
the league in steals (2.28 per game) and seventh in
assists (7.8 apg).
Utah owned the third overall pick in the 1982 NBA Draft
and wielded it well, selecting Dominique Wilkins out
of the University of Georgia. But Wilkins never suited
up for the Jazz; on September 2 his draft rights were
traded to Atlanta for John Drew, Freeman Williams, and
cash. Before he ever played a single game for the Jazz,
Drew entered a drug rehabilitation program and was lost
to the team for eight weeks. The Jazz also used a fourth-round
pick to select 7-4, 286-pound center Mark Eaton. Eaton
had been an unremarkable player at UCLA and had assumed
he would continue his career as an auto mechanic.
On December 4, 1982, against the Chicago Bulls, Dantley
scored 57 points, the NBA high for the season and the
third-best scoring night in Jazz history. Unfortunately,
only 22 games into the campaign "A. D." tore ligaments
in his right wrist and missed the final 60 contests.
The absence of both Drew and Dantley unhinged the team,
and it nose-dived to a 30-52 record, its fifth consecutive
50-loss season. The Jazz avoided the Midwest basement
only because the division also included the Houston
Rockets, who finished at 14-68.
One of the season's few positive moments came on December
7 against Portland, when the Jazz made 39 consecutive
free throws to set an NBA record. Another came when
Drew completed his rehab program, returned to the lineup,
won the NBA Player of the Week Award for the first week
of March, and averaged 21.2 points in his 44 appearances.
Of the Jazz players who endured for the whole campaign,
Griffith led in scoring with 22.2 points per game. Speedster
Rickey Green ended up third in the league in assists
(8.9 apg) and second in steals (2.82 per game), twice
recording a team-record 9 steals in a game. Center Mark
Eaton finished second to Atlanta's Tree Rollins in blocked
shots with 275.
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1983-84: Dantley Makes History; Jazz Make Playoffs
The Jazz turnaround began in Junre when the team selected
6-11 Thurl Bailey of North Carolina State in the first
round of the 1983 NBA Draft and guard Bobby Hansen in
the third round. Bailey was a key contributor as a rookie,
and after nine losing seasons the Jazz (45-37) broke
through in 1983-84 for the first winning record in franchise
history and their first Midwest Division title. For
the first time in several years the team was healthy,
with seven players appearing in 80 or more games. It
was also the most prolific scoring unit in club history
at 115.0 points per game.
A December 17 victory against Golden State moved the
Jazz into unfamiliar territory-first place in the Midwest
Division. Utah finished December with an 11-2 mark,
the best month in franchise history. Always formidable
at home, the team built a 17-game Salt Palace winning
streak that lasted until February 10, when the Jazz
fell to the Knicks, 121-111.
On January 4 Adrian Dantley tied Wilt Chamberlain's
all-time NBA record by making 28 free throws (in 29
attempts) against Houston. He was picked to start in
his fourth All-Star Game in five Jazz seasons. Rickey
Green was also selected to the West team. On February
14 Green set a club record with 20 assists against Atlanta.
(The mark would stand until 1987, when John Stockton
dished out 22 in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers.)
Dantley became only the fourth player in league history
to sink 800 free throws in a season; he made 813 of
his 946 attempts, both all-time franchise marks. As
an indication of their versatility, the Jazz became
the first team to have four players win NBA statistical
crowns: Dantley in scoring (30.6 ppg); Green in steals
(2.65 per game); Mark Eaton in blocked shots (4.28 per
game); and Darrell Griffith in three-point percentage
(.361). Thurl Bailey was named to the NBA All-Rookie
Team, while Dantley, who returned from a wrist injury,
was named the league's Most Improved Player (the award
was then called Comeback Player of the Year). In addition,
Frank Layden was named NBA Coach of the Year.
The Jazz clinched their first-ever playoff berth by
winning the Midwest Division. They needed five games
to get past the Denver Nuggets in the first round, but
then fell to the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference
Semifinals.
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1984-85: John Who?
Utah's astute move in the 1984 NBA Draft would put
the franchise on a winning path for more than a decade.
With the 16th pick overall the Jazz selected little-known
6-1 guard John Stockton of Gonzaga University. Stockton
joined a team brimming with promise, but 1984-85 was
a minor disappointment. Dantley staged a prolonged holdout,
John Drew was suspended, and the Jazz slipped to 41-41-tied
with San Antonio for fourth place in the Midwest Division.
The most remarkable story for the Jazz was the continuing
development of huge Mark Eaton, who blocked everything
but the sun and was named NBA Defensive Player of the
Year. He won the shotblocking title and set all-time
league records for total blocks (456) and blocks per
game (5.56). On January 18 Eaton set a Jazz record by
rejecting 14 shots in a game against Portland.
Utah faced Houston in the first round of the 1985 NBA
Playoffs. Billy "the Whopper" Paultz, who had been picked
up to anchor Utah's bench, tied an NBA record by appearing
in his 15th consecutive postseason. The Jazz defeated
the Rockets in five games despite losing Eaton to an
injured right knee. Denver then blitzed Utah, four games
to one, in the Western Conference Semifinals.
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1985-86: "The Mailman" Delivers A Winning Season
Prior to the 1985-86 season the second component in
one of the most effective one-two combinations in league
history arrived in Utah-Karl Malone. Selected by the
Jazz with the 13th pick in the 1985 NBA Draft, the 6-9,
256-pound Louisiana Tech product would go on to become
one of the best power forwards ever to play the game.
Malone, a ferocious inside player who also loved to
run the floor, proved to be the perfect complement to
Stockton's tremendous passing skills.
The 1985-86 campaign got off to a rocky start. Darrell
Griffith broke a bone in his foot while playing in a
pickup game and was lost for the year. The team steadied
itself to finish 42-40, the second winning season in
team history. The Jazz advanced to the postseason but
lost in the first round to the surging Dallas Mavericks.
Dantley averaged 29.8 points during the regular season,
second in the NBA to Atlanta's Dominique Wilkins (30.3).
Eaton lost his shotblocking crown to Washington's Manute
Bol but was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team.
Malone, who averaged 14.9 points and 8.9 rebounds, made
the NBA All-Rookie Team. And, in a dose of tradition
for the young franchise, Pete Maravich was elected to
the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
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1986-88: End Of An Era: Dantley Traded
Utah continued to retool for the future in 1986-87.
Prior to the season the Jazz traded Dantley with a couple
of second-round draft choices to the Detroit Pistons
for Kelly Tripucka and Kent Benson. Second-year forward
Karl "the Mailman" Malone took over the team's scoring
lead (21.7 ppg), and John Stockton and Rickey Green
each had productive seasons while sharing point guard
duties. The result was a respectable 44-38 record, second
to Dallas in the Midwest Division and good enough to
earn the Jazz a fourth consecutive playoff appearance.
Optimism ran high when Utah won the first two games
of a best-of-five playoff series against Golden State,
but the Warriors surged to win the next three and take
the series.
The 1987-88 edition of the Jazz was a young but maturing
unit with several distinctive talents. The team lacked
depth, but the starting lineup was good enough to forge
a 47-35 record, the best in club history at the time.
Utah struggled during the first half of the season and
actually had a losing record in February, but the Jazz
began to click after the All-Star break, going 11-5
in March and winning the final five games of the season.
The team's success was an indication that Utah's next
generation of stars was coming into its own. Karl Malone
was voted to start in the 1988 NBA All-Star Game. He
led the Jazz in both scoring (27.7 ppg) and rebounding
(12.0 rpg), ranking among the league's top five in each
category. Mark Eaton won his second consecutive shotblocking
title and his fourth in five years, recording 3.71 blocks
per game.
John Stockton, who finally became the team's starting
point guard, broke the NBA's single-season record for
assists with 1,128 (13.8 apg), surpassing the previous
mark of 1,123 held by Detroit's Isiah Thomas. Stockton's
effort was no fluke. Although he was a quiet, no-frills
player, he was well on his way to establishing himself
as one of the greatest playmakers in NBA history. In
addition to leading the league in assists, Stockton
ranked third in steals (2.95 per game) and fourth in
field-goal percentage (.574).
A somber note for the franchise and for the NBA was
sounded at midyear. Former Jazz star Pete Maravich,
one of the league's most exciting players, died on January
5 at the age of 40 after suffering a heart attack while
playing in a pickup basketball game.
Utah faced Portland in the first round of the 1988
NBA Playoffs. The Jazz lost the first game, then swept
the next three to advance to the Western Conference
Semifinals. Facing the "Showtime" Los Angeles Lakers
(who were on their way to repeating as NBA champions),
Utah forced the series to seven games before falling
by 11 points in Game 7.
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1988-89: Layden Steps Down; Sloan Steps In
The Lakers and the Portland Trail Blazers dominated
the Western Conference, but the Jazz seemed well positioned
to become the team of the 1990s. Just 17 games into
the 1988-89 season, eighth-year head coach Frank Layden
resigned to become the team's president and turned over
the reins to Assistant Coach Jerry Sloan, a former NBA
All-Star. Sloan guided Utah to a 51-31 record and another
Midwest Division title.
The 1988-89 squad was the best defensive team in Jazz
history, yielding only 99.7 points per game. The defense
was anchored by Mark Eaton, who matched his single-game
record on February 18 when he rejected 14 shots in a
game against San Antonio. The Jazz were also menacing
on offense, with the combination of Stockton-to-Malone
frustrating one opponent after another. Thurl Bailey
contributed offensive spark off the bench, and veteran
Darrell Griffith was sporadically effective.
Malone, Stockton, and Eaton represented the franchise
at the 1989 NBA All-Star Game, where "the Mailman" earned
MVP honors with 28 points and 9 rebounds for the West.
Stockton led the league in steals and assists (13.6
apg), setting Jazz single-season records for total steals
(263) and steals average (3.21 per game). Malone finished
second in the NBA to Michael Jordan in scoring (29.1
ppg) and fifth in rebounding (10.7 rpg). He was selected
to the All-NBA First Team and finished third in the
voting for the league's Most Valuable Player Award.
Eaton, who was second in the league in blocked shots
and seventh in rebounding, earned his second Defensive
Player of the Year Award.
The Jazz entered the postseason expecting to challenge
the defending NBA-champion Lakers. Instead, Utah fell
apart and was eliminated in the first round by an unconventional
Golden State Warriors team that featured Chris Mullin
and Mitch Richmond.
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1989-90: Postseason Not Kind to Jazz
Utah's trend of starring during the regular season
and stumbling during the postseason continued in the
1989-90 season, in which the Jazz rocketed to a 55-27
record. It was the best record in franchise history
and earned Utah second place in the Midwest Division,
one game behind the San Antonio Spurs and rookie David
Robinson. During the year the Jazz went 36-5 at the
Salt Palace and notched a 19-game home winning streak.
The team sprinted out of the gate, winning seven of
its first eight games. All-Star John Stockton's team
record of 418 consecutive games played came to an end
when he sprained his ankle on November 21 against the
Minnesota Timberwolves and missed two contests. On November
27 the Jazz set an all-time team defensive mark by holding
the New Jersey Nets to 68 points. On January 27 Karl
Malone had the second-highest scoring night in club
history when he poured in 61 points against Milwaukee
(Malone missed Pete Maravich's 1977 record by 7 points).
The Jazz, however, had a history of sputtering at the
end of the year, and this campaign was no different.
Utah finished 5-7 in April, and the struggles continued
in the postseason, as the Jazz were bumped by the Phoenix
Suns in the first round. The Jazz took Game 1 by 17
points and Game 4 by 11, but Phoenix prevailed with
a two-point Game 5 victory.
Despite Utah's late-season collapse, Malone was named
to the All-NBA First Team for the second straight year.
His 31.0 points per game ranked second in the league
to Michael Jordan, and he set a franchise record for
points in a season with 2,540. Stockton broke his own
NBA record by dishing for 1,134 assists for an average
of 14.5 per game.
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1990-91: Jazz Acquire A Second Malone
Malone, Stockton, and Thurl Bailey were all offensive
standouts, but the Jazz had little else in the way of
firepower. Recognizing the team's lack of depth, the
front office acquired dependable shooting guard Jeff
Malone in an offseason trade for Bobby Hansen, Eric
Leckner, and two draft picks.
Utah put together another 50-win season in 1990-91,
finishing 54-28 and tying the Portland Trail Blazers
for the league's best home record (36-5). The Jazz got
off to a sluggish start at 3-5, but they then took off
in the right direction. The team went 19-10 through
November and December and then surged to a 27-8 record
through January and February. Stockton, on his way to
becoming the most productive playmaker in the history
of basketball, took a big step in that direction on
January 15 in a game against San Antonio. In that contest
he handed out an all-time franchise-record 28 assists,
the third-highest total in NBA history.
The team avoided the late-season swoon that had marred
recent campaigns, finishing in second place in the Midwest
Division-once again a single game behind the Spurs.
For the second straight season the Jazz met Phoenix
in the first round of the playoffs, but this time Utah
took the series in four games. Utah's momentum was short-lived,
however, as Portland bumped the Jazz, four games to
one, in the Western Conference Semifinals.
Stockton once again bested his NBA assists record with
1,164 (14.2 apg), reaching the 1,000-assist plateau
for the fourth consecutive year. Karl Malone (29.0 ppg,
11.8 rpg) was named to the All-NBA First Team and again
finished runner-up to Jordan for the league's scoring
crown.
The season was the final one for 10-year veteran Darrell
Griffith, who was waived prior to the start of the 1991-92
season.. It was also the final season in the old Salt
Palace, as the Jazz prepared to move down the street
to the Delta Center.
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1991-92: Home Sweet Home
The team made their debut in the new Delta Center with
a loss to the Seattle SuperSonics and struggled in the
early going, posting a 9-7 record in November. Utah
then followed the solid pattern it had established during
the previous few seasons, making slow but steady progress
until March, which found them 20 games above .500. As
usual, Karl Malone and Stockton played in the All-Star
Game, and on March 14 Stockton tied a team record also
held by Griffith and Kelly Tripucka when he made 5 three-pointers
against the San Antonio Spurs.
For once the Jazz saved the best for last; they won
their final seven games to tie the best record in franchise
history at 55-27. Utah's home record of 37-4 was also
a franchise best and tops in the NBA. The squad's problems,
however, came on the road, where the franchise had yet
to compile a winning record in its 18-year history.
Nonetheless, the Jazz dominated the Midwest Division,
finishing eight games ahead of San Antonio. In the first
round of the playoffs Utah defeated the pesky Los Angeles
Clippers in five games. In the conference semifinals
the Jazz bounced Seattle, four games to one, for the
team's first-ever trip to the Western Conference Finals.
But Utah finally met its match in the Portland Trail
Blazers, who won the series in six games.
Stockton led the league in assists (13.7 apg) and topped
the 1,000-assist plateau for a record fifth consecutive
year. The eight-year veteran also led the league in
steals with 2.98 per game. Karl Malone again finished
second to Michael Jordan in the NBA scoring race, this
time with 28.0 points per game. Jeff Malone ranked second
on the team in scoring with 20.2 points per contest.
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1992-93: A "Dream" For Malone And Stockton, A Nightmare
For The Jazz
In 1992-93 the Jazz slipped to a 47-35 record, failing
to win at least 50 games for the first time in five
years. Playing without injured center Mark Eaton for
18 games, Utah fell to third place in the Midwest Division
and made a first-round exit from the playoffs courtesy
of the rising Seattle SuperSonics.
After showcasing their talents to the world on the
1992 Olympic Dream Team, Karl Malone and John Stockton
stole the show in front of the hometown fans at the
1993 NBA All-Star Game. The Jazz teammates shared MVP
honors as they led the West to a 135-132 overtime victory
before a packed house at the Delta Center.
However, as a team the Jazz were a notch below the
NBA's elite. Utah's players were no longer young, and
they were achieving the kind of milestones that characterize
long careers. In December, Karl Malone reached the 15,000-point
mark and then became the Jazz's all-time leading rebounder.
Eaton returned from knee surgery and blocked his 3,000th
career shot, making him the second player to reach that
plateau since the league made blocks an official statistic
in 1973-74. Stockton won his sixth consecutive NBA assists
title, reaching 8,000 for his career.
Although Utah was still a good, competitive team, it
appeared as if the Jazz had missed their opportunity
to grab an NBA title. The team had a pair of legitimate
superstars in Stockton and Karl Malone and possessed
a few distinctive role players, but couldn't wrestle
the Jazz over the playoff hump.
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1993-94: Dynamic Duo Leads Jazz To Conference Finals
The 1993-94 brought improved results from a familiar
formula. For much of the season it was the same old
Jazz: John Stockton to Karl Malone. In the end it yielded
53 wins and the fifth-best record in the Western Conference.
Along the way the club swapped Jeff Malone to the Philadelphia
76ers for Jeff Hornacek, a guard with better passing
skills and a greater range on his jumper.
The Jazz won 10 straight games from late February to
early March to challenge for the division title and
then won 8 of 9 to finish the season. In the playoffs
Utah bounced the San Antonio Spurs in four games. They
needed seven games to put away the "cinderella" Denver
Nuggets, who came back from a three games to none deficit.
The Jazz advanced to the Western Conference Finals for
the second time in three years but didn't have enough
beef to contend with Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon. The
Rockets, the eventual NBA champions, defeated the Jazz
in five games.
For the season, Karl Malone finished fifth in the league
with 25.2 points per game and topped 19,000 career points
to move into 25th place on the all-time list. Stockton
led the league in assists for the seventh straight season
(12.6 apg)-only Bob Cousy had more consecutive campaigns
(8) on top of the passing charts.
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1994-95: Playoffs Again Problematical
The Utah Jazz's 1994-95 season was marked by several
significant milestones and achievements but ended in
a minor key. Utah was a highly efficient unit in 1994-95,
winning a franchise-record 60 games and stringing together
a 15-game winning streak on the road in December and
January, the second-longest such streak in NBA history.
The club led the NBA in field-goal accuracy with a .512
percentage and had seven players who shot better than.500
from the field.
John Stockton became the NBA's all-time assists leader
on February 1, topping Magic Johnson's total of 9,921.
Stockton also led the league in assists (12.3 apg) for
the eighth straight year, tying Bob Cousy for most consecutive
and most total seasons leading the NBA in that category.
Jeff Hornacek set an NBA record for three-pointers without
a miss by canning 8 of 8 three-point baskets against
the Seattle SuperSonics on November 23, and he later
tied an NBA mark by connecting on 11 straight treys
during a six-game span.
Karl Malone and Tom Chambers each topped the 20,000-point
plateau during the season, becoming the 19th and 20th
players, respectively, in NBA history to do so. Stockton
surpassed Mark Eaton as the club's all-time leader in
games played. Malone and Stockton played in the All-Star
Game and were both named to the All-NBA First Team at
season's end. Malone also finished third in the balloting
for the NBA Most Valuable Player Award.
Malone said early in the season that the 1994-95 version
of the Jazz was the best team he had played on. In addition
to a solid starting five of Malone, Stockton, Hornacek,
David Benoit, and Felton Spencer, the Jazz had some
key contributors off the bench, including Adam Keefe,
Antoine Carr, James Donaldson, Chambers, and Blue Edwards.
Coming off a trip to the conference finals in 1994,
Malone and Stockton had their sights set on a championship
in 1995. On January 13, however, the team suffered a
serious setback when Spencer went down for the year
with a torn left Achilles tendon. Although not a superstar,
Spencer was crucial to Utah's success, a big body who
could hold his own against the great centers in the
Western Conference.
The Jazz won 60 games, but an even more successful
season by the San Antonio Spurs left Utah in second
place in the Midwest Division. Seeded third in the playoffs,
the Jazz were matched against the sixth-seeded Houston
Rockets, the NBA's defending champions, in the first
round. Without Spencer, the Jazz had no answer for Hakeem
Olajuwon and lost the series in five games.
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1995-96: One Game Away
The 1995-96 Jazz team looked a lot like previous Jazz
teams - a lot of scoring from Karl Malone, a lot of
playmaking from John Stockton and enough contributions
from everybody else to make them once again a contender
for the championship.
In fact, this Jazz squad had more depth than many previous
editions. Felton Spencer, Antoine Carr and rookie Greg
Ostertag had size, Adam Keefe, David Benoit and Bryon
Russell added versatility and Jeff Hornacek brought
exceptional outside shooting.
It all translated to a 55-27 record for the Jazz and
coach Jerry Sloan, who won his 400th game as Jazz coach
on February 22 vs. Toronto. In leading the Jazz to their
13th consecutive winning season, Stockton and Malone
continued to leave their mark on the NBA record books.
On February 20, in a 112-98 win over Boston, he broke
Maurice Cheeks' record of 2,310 steals, ending the season
with 2,365. In April, Malone moved into ninth on the
NBA's all-time scoring list, finishing the season with
23,343 points.
Stockton and Malone once again represented the Western
Conference at the All-Star Game and once again played
the entire season without missing a game because of
injury. In a combined 23 seasons (1,886 possible games)
each player had missed only four games.
Their depth, veteran leadership and chemistry appeared
to benefit them in the postseason. In the first round
the Jazz slipped past the Portland Trail Blazers thanks
to a 102-64 pounding in the deciding fifth game. In
the semifinals they got past the Spurs in six games,
sending them to the Western Conference Finals for the
third time in five years.
Seattle took a three games to one advantage in the
series, but the Jazz rallied to force a seventh game,
and was within a few missed free throws of that elusive
trip to the Finals, losing 90-86 at Seattle's KeyArena.
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1996-97: Fine Tuned Squad Finds Road To Finals
In the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, the 1996-97 Utah
Jazz quietly destroyed nearly every team in its path,
earning the best record in franchise history (64-18),
a trip to the NBA Finals and a healthy dose of nationwide
attention and respect that had eluded the team in previous
seasons.
For the first time in their history, the Jazz posted
the best regular-season record in the Western Conference,
earning home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
That loomed large for the Jazz, who had advanced to
the Conference Finals three times in the previous five
seasons and lost each time. After a 38-3 record at the
Delta Center during the regular season, the Jazz stormed
past the Clippers, Lakers and Rockets in the Western
Conference playoffs, winning all eight home games.
The Jazz came up with their most heroic effort at the
Summit in Houston. In Game 6 of the Conference Finals
against the Rockets, the Jazz clawed back from a 12-point
fourth quarter deficit to tie the game in the final
minute. With time for one final offensive play, Bryon
Russell made the inbounds pass, Karl Malone set the
pick and John Stockton buried the winning shot as time
expired, sending Stockton, his teammates and the entire
state of Utah into a frenzy-and sending the Jazz into
the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.
Utah continued its home-court success against the Chicago
Bulls in the Finals, tying the series 2-2 after dropping
the first two games in Chicago. Game 5 would be Utah's
only home loss of the playoffs, and it was courtesy
of another Michael Jordan Finals special. Playing despite
a stomach virus, Jordan nonetheless scored 38 points,
including the go-ahead three-pointer in Chicago's 90-88
win. Utah fought hard in Game 6 but dropped a 90-86
decision, losing the series 4-2.
It was a season of milestones and record-shattering
for the Jazz, who led the NBA in field goal percentage
(.504), and set team records for wins (64) and home
wins (38). Malone became only the fifth player in NBA
history to surpass 25,000 points and 10,000 rebounds,
and led the NBA in free throws. Malone and Stockton
each completed another season without missing a game,
extending their consecutive games played streaks to
467 and 609 respectively.
While Stockton (14.4 ppg, 10.5 apg) and Malone (27.4
ppg, 9.9 rpg) remained the top options for head coach
Jerry Sloan, the Jazz relied on unprecedented depth.
Russell (10.8 ppg), Jeff Hornacek (14.5 ppg) and Greg
Ostertag (7.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg) all started and played key
roles. Reserves Antoine Carr, Shandon Anderson, Howard
Eisley, Adam Keefe, Chris Morris and Greg Foster all
contributed.
The Jazz was so happy with its chemistry, it spent
the offseason resigning Anderson, Carr, Eisley, Hornacek
and Russell - all free agents, and extending the contract
of Ostertag, in order to take another run at the NBA
title in 1997-98.
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1997-98: Jazz and Blues: Terrific Season Ends in Heartbreak
The 1997-98 Utah Jazz was a team that somehow got a
year better, not a year older as many predicted. Led
by the ageless duo of John Stockton and Karl Malone,
the Jazz reached into the fountain of youth to post
a 62-20 record in the regular season, fly past a talented,
young Lakers team in the Conference Finals and earn
a return engagement in the NBA Finals.
While Utah's return to the Finals wasn't a complete
surprise, their season did seem in peril in October,
when Stockton went under the knife to repair torn cartilege
in his left knee. The 35-year-old guard, who had missed
only four games in his 13 pro seasons, was sidelined
for the first 18 games of the 1997-98 season.
For Stockton, the NBA's all-time leader in steals and
assists, the injury meant an end to his streak of 609
consecutive games played. For his teammates, it meant
persevering without their playmaker. They did so with
mixed results. Utah's 5-6 start was the team's worst
since 1982-83, but the Jazz won six of their next seven
to improve to 11-7 in Stockton's absence.
Buoyed by Stockton's return, the overpowering inside
play of Karl Malone and the continuity of having 11
players back from last year's Western Conference Champions,
the Jazz went 51-13 the rest of the way.
Malone may have actually improved in 1997-98, no easy
feat considering he was the NBA's MVP in 1996-97. Malone
was Utah's leading scorer in 75 of the 81 games in which
he played. He finished third in the league in scoring
(27.0 ppg), sixth in rebounding (10.3 rpg) and was named
the NBA's Player of the Week on three occasions (Nov.
17-23, Feb. 9-15, Mar. 2-8). In February, he was named
the NBA's Player of the Month in February after averaging
26.6 ppg, 10.8 rpg and shooting 54.6 percent from the
field.
February, though the shortest month of the year, nevertheless
had a world of impact on the Jazz season. On Feb. 4,
the Jazz concluded the first-half of the season by overcoming
a 22-point first-quarter deficit to post a 101-93 win
over the Chicago Bulls. In doing so, the Jazz became
the first team in three seasons to sweep Chicago.
Two weeks later, the Jazz incurred a potential disaster
when an announced trade for Orlando center Rony Seikaly
fell through. Chris Morris and Greg Foster, who were
both headed for Orlando before the deal was called off,
were sent back to the Jazz and put in the awkward position
of re-adjusting.
Oddly, the trade seemed to unite the Jazz. Utah went
27-5 the rest of the way, fending off the Lakers and
the Seattle Sonics to earn homecourt advantage throughout
the playoffs. In the battle for Western Conference supremacy,
every game mattered. In retrospect, perhaps no win was
bigger than Utah's win over Golden State on April 7,
in which Malone scored an NBA season-high 56 points
to will Utah to a 101-99 win over an inspired Warriors
team.
The Jazz entered the postseason red-hot, but were cooled
off by the Houston Rockets, who took a 2-1 series lead
over Utah, drawing to within a game of becoming the
second No.8 seed ever to defeat a No.1 seed. Houston
took a six-point halftime lead before the Jazz finally
pushed back.
Utah survived the scare against the Rockets, and downed
the Spurs 4-games-to-1 in a series that was much closer
than the outcome. Then the Jazz surprised everyone with
a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers that earned
Utah a return trip to the NBA Finals and a rematch with
the Bulls.
Chicago, the two-time defending champion, provided
one final challenge for the Jazz, who were once again
four wins away from their first championship in franchise
history. With 10 days to rest their weary bones while
awaiting the conclusion of the Eastern Conference Finals,
Utah entered the series as the people's choice in this
rematch of a memorable 1997 Finals series.
Their quest started on a positive note -- an 88-85
Jazz win -- but a stunning 96-54 loss in Game 3 put
Chicago up 2-games-to-1. Chicago prevailed again in
Game 4, but the duo of Malone (39 points) and Antoine
Carr (12 second-half points) helped Utah post an 83-81
win, breaking Chicago's eight-game home winning streak
in Finals competition.
With the series shifting back to Utah for games 6 and
7, the Jazz were poised to unseat the Bulls. A seventh
game was all but clinched when John Stockton hit a three
to put Utah up 86-83 in the final minute. Enter Michael
Jordan. The Bulls guard spoiled Utah's plans with a
key steal and two buckets, including the game-winning
jumper with 5.2 seconds remaining, as the Bulls won
their third straight title.
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1998-99: Mailman Delivers Another MVP
Karl Malone earned his second MVP award and Utah won
the West's most exciting first-round playoff series,
but the Jazz weren't able to win their third consecutive
conference title.
After posting a 37-13 record in the regular season,
Utah got all it could handle from the Sacramento Kings
in the postseason. The Jazz won by 30 in the opener,
but the Kings bounced back to steal Game 2 in Salt Lake
City and win Game 3 in overtime in Sacramento.
Utah staved off elimination by winning Game 4, 90-89,
thanks to a late-game scoring spree by Shandon Anderson
and a game-winning jumper by John Stockton with 0.7
seconds left. The series shifted back to Salt Lake City,
where the Jazz won the deciding game in overtime.
Utah's season ended in the conference semifinals as
Portland took the series in six games.
Malone averaged 23.8 points and 9.4 rebounds for the
season and was named to the All-NBA and All-Defensive
first teams. Stockton posted 11.1 points and 7.5 assists
per game and earned All-NBA Third Team honors.
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1999-2000: Jazz Remain Postseason Poster Boys
Utah opened the 1999-2000 season with four new faces,
including two of their three 1999 first round draft picks,
Quincy Lewis and Scott Padgett and veterans Pete Chilcutt
and Olden Polynice. The Jazz opened the season with the
Los Angles Lakers, losing 91-84 in the season opener on
November 2, but avenged that loss with a 98-82 win over
the Houston Rockets and former Jazzman Shandon Anderson
two nights later.
Utah finished November with an 8-6 mark, including wins
over New York, Portland and San Antonio at home, but lost
at home to the Toronto Raptors for the first time, 100-87,
on November 26 and went just 2-4 on the road. On November
29 against Golden State, Karl Malone passed Michael Jordan
on the NBA's all-time scoring list (29,277 points) to
become the third-leading scorer in league history. Jeff
Hornacek began a streak of 67 consecutive free throws
at Sacramento on November, running until January 6, 2000,
at Dallas, marking the sixth-longest streak in NBA history.
The team opened December with their worst home loss of
the season, losing 100-75 to the Indiana Pacers and drop
to 8-7 on the season, but recovered to go 10-3 the remainder
of the month, going 5-3 on the road, including a franchise
tying seven-game Eastern road trip to end with a 18-10
record, starting the new millennium. John Stockton became
the 65th player in league history to score 16,000 points
at Golden State on December 4, while Hornacek became the
84th player in league history to score 15,000 at Boston
on December 15 and only the 19th player to record 15,000
points and 5,000 assists. Coach Jerry Sloan joined Red
Auerbach (795 wins with Boston) and Red Holtzman (613
wins with New York) as the only coaches ever to win 600
games with one franchise when he led the team to a 101-90
win against Vancouver on December 29.
Utah opened the new year with four consecutive victories,
winning six of the first seven games, and were eventually
9-2, capping that stretch off with a 105-101 double-overtime
win over the Lakers on January 24. The team then suffered
through their longest losing streak of the season, dropping
six straight games (last three of January and the first
three in February) ending the January 9-5. The team lost
three times at home during the month, including losses
to Minnesota, Seattle and an embarrassing 116-99 loss
to the Vancouver Grizzlies, their first-ever loss to the
expansion team (18-1). Coach Sloan became the 12th coach
in NBA history to win 700 games when the team won 112-75
against the Los Angeles Clippers on January 15 and passed
Don Nelson on January 8 for fourth place all-time in most
games coached with one franchise at 885 at Houston.
Utah requested waivers on Pete Chilcutt on January 7 and
signed veteran forward Armen Gilliam for the remainder
of the season. Malone became only the third player in
NBA history to score 30,000 career points, when he converted
on an offensive rebound and a layup at 8:53 of the third
quarter at Minnesota on January 29. The Jazz recovered
from their season-long six-game losing streak to win seven
of their next eight games to finish February with an 8-5
record, but with three home losses, the team was now 23-9
at the Delta Center and 12-12 on the road. NBA coaches
chose Malone and Stockton as reserves for the 49th NBA
All-Star Game at the Arena at Oakland, marking the 12th
and 10th selections respectively for the pair. At 37 Stockton
became the second -oldest All-Star in NBA history, behind
only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at 41. Malone at age 36, was
the sixth oldest All-Star ever. Hornacek successfully
defended his championship at the AT&T Shootout during
All-Star weekend and teamed with the Utah Starzz' Natalie
Williams to emerge triumphant in the Sony All-Star 2ball
competition, edging Jason Kidd and Jennifer Gilliom in
the final round (68-61).
Utah opened March with eight straight wins and, including
the last win in February, and had their longest winning
streak of the year at nine. The Jazz won six consecutive
road games at Detroit, Charlotte, New York, Phoenix, Chicago
and Cleveland, before dropping a 99-97 decision in Philadelphia
on March 17 to snap the streak. The team finished the
month with a 14-2 record and a glossy 9-1 mark on the
road, improving to 49-27 on the year and 21-13 away from
home. Coach Sloan was named IBM Coach of the Month for
guiding the team to the 14-2 mark, and Malone was named
NBA Player of the Week from February 28 through March
5, guiding the team to a 4-0 over that span, averaging
28.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists.
The Jazz recorded their 15th consecutive winning season,
second all-time, with a 87-79 win at Chicago on March
13 and 17th consecutive season at .500 of better, second
all-time, with a 99-96 win at Phoenix on March 10. Utah
clinched its 17th consecutive trip to the NBA Playoffs
with a 96-83 win over Denver on March 21, the fourth-best
streak of all-time. The team finished the regular season
going 6-5 for April and ended the year with a 55-27 (.671)
record, the fifth-best mark in franchise history.
The team won the Midwest Division title (by two games
over San Antonio) for the fifth time in franchise history
and for the third time in the last four years. The Jazz
had the third-best record in the Western Conference and
the fourth-best in the NBA.
"The Mailman" became the first player in NBA history to
score 2,000 points in a season 12 times, and Coach Sloan
joined Pat Riley (16), Phil Jackson (9) and Lenny Wilkens
(9) as the only coaches ever to win at least 50 games
in a season nine times. Utah's starting backcourt of Stockton
and Hornacek ranked one-two among NBA guards in field
goal percentage at .501 and .496, respectively. Five Jazz
players (Eisley, Malone, Russell, Polynice and Stockton)
played in all 82 games.
Utah opened the 2000 NBA Playoffs against the Seattle
Sonics at the Delta Center, and Malone poured in a career-playoff-high
50 points to lead the Jazz to a 104-93 win and a 1-0 series
lead. The Jazz won Game 2 101-87 for a 2-0 lead but let
the Sonics off the hook in Seattle, dropping two games
to send the series back to Salt Lake City, where the Jazz
escaped with a 96-93 win to advance to the second round
against Portland.
The Trail Blazers hold home-court advantage winning the
first two games at the Rose Garden, then split the pair
at the Delta Center for a 3-1 advantage heading back to
Portland. In Game 5, Utah led 79-77 with 7.3 seconds remaining,
but Scottie Pippen nailed a three-pointer for a 80-79
lead, then Byron Russell missed two free throws with 3.0
seconds left and the Jazz season came to an end.
Utah ended the 1999-2000 season ranked third in the league
in three-point field goal percentage (.773), fourth in
field goal percentage (.464) and ninth in free throw percentage
(.385). Hornacek ended the season as the league's top
free throw shooter, connecting on .950 (171 180), the
third-best percentage in league history, and finished
second in three-point field goal percentage (.478). Malone
ended the year fifth in the league in scoring (25.5),
eighth in field goal percentage (.509) and 12th in rebounding
(9.5), while Stockton was sixth in assists (8.6) and 10th
in steals (1.74). Malone was selected to the All-NBA Second
Team, breaking a streak of eight consecutive years on
the First Team.
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2000-01: Fresh Look for the Jazz
The Jazz open their 26th season with a fresh new look
that includes the retirement of Jeff Hornacek and a four-team
trade, involving Boston, Dallas, Golden State and Utah
that saw guard Howard Eisley go to the Dallas Mavericks
and forward Donyell Marshall come to the Jazz. The team
also signed veteran free agents Danny Manning and John
Starks along with former Jazzman David Benoit as well
as welcoming 19-year-old DeShawn Stevenson, their first
round pick in the 2000 NBA Draft and first ever high school
player to the club. The Jazz opened the 2000-01 campaign
with a starting lineup of Karl Malone and Bryon Russell
at forwards, Olden Polynice at center and John Stockton
and John Starks at the guards. Utah begins the season
with a 5-0 record including a win at Los Angeles against
the Lakers and finish the month of November with a 12-3
mark (1-0 for October), including a glossy 6-1 mark on
the road. Stockton breaks John Havlicek°s NBA record for
most games played with one franchise (1,270 games), at
New Jersey on November 28 and goes on to play in every
game during the season, for the 15th time in 17 years
.
The team struggles during December going just 8-8,
including an uncharacteristic 3-4 record at the Delta
Center that saw the team lose to San Antonio, Milwaukee,
Philadelphia and Portland. On December 5 vs. Toronto,
Malone moves into second place on the NBA°s all-time
scoring list with 31,420 career points and Stockton
scores the 17,000th point of his career vs. Golden State
on December 9. Two games later on December 13, Stockton
records the 14,000th assist of his career, adding to
his all-time NBA record. Utah opens January on a 4-game
losing streak, but rebounds to win 12 of the next 13
games (9-4 record for January), including a season-high
eight-game winning streak from January 21 to February
13. Marshall is inserted into the starting lineup on
January 6, after Russell is sidelined with a sprained
ankle and responds with 20 points and 15 rebounds. He
remains in the starting lineup for the remainder of
the season where he averaged 16.3 points and 8.2 rebounds
in 49 starts (9.4 points and 5.2 rebounds in the 32
games off the bench). The Jazz finish February 10-2,
including road wins at New York, Sacramento and Portland,
standing 39-17, good for first in the Midwest Division.
Coach Jerry Sloan is named NBA Coach of the Month,
marking the sixth time in his career that he has received
the award. Utah goes 9-7 in March, but only 4-5 at the
Delta Center and surrendered their lead in the Midwest
to the San Antonio Spurs. Sloan coaches his 1,000th
career game with the Jazz on March 18 vs. the Los Angeles
Clippers, while Malone sets an all-time NBA record in
free throws mades with 8,534 vs. Washington on March
24. Stockton moves into third on the NBA°s all-time
list in games played vs. Cleveland on March 30 with
1,330 career games (trails only Robert Parish and Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar). After going 5-5 in the April, the Jazz
hang on to fourth place in the Western Conference and
host the Dallas Mavericks in the First Round of the
2001 NBA Playoffs.
The Jazz complete the regular season at 53-29, but
are just 28-13 at home and finish the final two months
of the season with a 14-12 record and 6-7 in the Delta
Center. Stockton finishes second in the league in assists
(8.7), second in 3-point field goal percentage (.462),
connecting on 61-132 attempts and third in field percentage
(.504). Donyell Marshall follows Stockton in field goal
percentage at .503 and Malone ends the year 12th in
scoring at 23.2 points.
For the 12th in his career, Malone is selected to
the NBA All-Star Game and was named the All-NBA Third
Team at season°s finale. Utah opens the 2001 NBA Playoffs
with a 2-0 lead against the Mavericks at home winning
the first game 88-86 then taking a 109-98 decision in
the game two. Dallas win game three, 94-91 as Stockton°s
three-pointer misses at the buzzer, then the Mavericks
even the series at 2-2, blasting Utah 107-77 to set
up a deciding fifth game at the Delta Center. The Jazz
look to be well on their way to a second round match
with San Antonio, leading 71-57 going into the fourth
quarter, but manages just 12 points, being outscored
27-12 and fall ing 84-83 to be eliminated in the first
round for the first time since the 1995 playoffs.
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2001-02: Season of Milestones
John Stockton opens his 18th consecutive season with the
Jazz, a NBA record for most consecutive seasons with the
same franchise and Karl Malone ties the record with his
17th consecutive season with the team. After a two year
wait, rookie Andrei Kirilenko a first round pick in 1999,
joins the team from Russia, along with newcomers John
Amaechi and rookie Jarron Collins. Utah opens the season
6-11, their worst start since 1982-83, but rebound to
go 10-5 in December and finish 2001 with a 16-15 mark.
From January through March, the Jazz compile a 25-17 record,
including an 8-3 record in February, when the team plays
9 of 11 games on the road during the 2002 Winter Olympics.
The team heads into April with a 40-32 record, their high
mark on the season, being eight games over .500, but go
just 3-6 over the final nine games to drop from the sixth
to eighth spot in the West. Utah finishes just 25-16 at
home, their worst home record since going 21-20 in 1982-83,
but finish a respectable 19-22 on the road. The team goes
19-11 against the Eastern Conference, but are 25-27 against
the West and just 8-16 in the Midwest Division.
Along the way, Karl Malone recorded 21 milestones,
including scoring his 34,000th career point and John
Stockton surpassing eight milestones, including his
15,000th assist and 3,000 steal, adding to his NBA all-time
records. Stockton became just the 10th player in NBA
history to play at the age of 40 and proved he's still
one of the NBA's elite player, finishing 5th in the
league in assists (8.2), 5th in field goal percentage
(.517) and 10th in steals (1.85). Malone ends the season
9th in the league in scoring, while Donyell Marshall
finishes 3rd in the league in field goal percentage
(.519). Kirilenko is selected to play in the Schick
Rookie game during All-Star Weekend and was named to
the NBA All-Rookie First Team, marking the first Jazz
player to be named to the first team since Karl Malone
in 1985-86. As a team, the Jazz lose 141 games to player
injuries; most notably, John Crotty 41 games due to
knee surgery, Donyell Marshall 24 games with various
injuries and Bryon Russell missing 16 due to a pelvis
injury. Utah uses an uncharacteristic 10 different starting
lineup and ends the season with two rookies in the starting
lineup (Kirilenko and Collins) for the first time in
team history.
The Jazz end the season seeded eighth in the Western
Conference, making the playoffs for the 19th consecutive
season (Second only to the Portland Trailblazers * 20
straight). Utah finishes with a 44-38 record, their
worst record since the 1986-87 season (44-38) and their
lowest seeding ever in the playoffs. Utah faces Sacramento,
the league's best team during the regular season in
the First Round and bow out to the Kings in four hotly
contested games and are eliminated.
2002-03:ž
Stockton's Final Season
The team has a summer filled with movement
that drastically changes the face of the roster. Free
agents Donyell Marshall and Bryon Russell move on to
other teams, but the Jazz sign Matt Harpring, Calbert
Cheaney and Mark Jackson. Raul Lopez, 2001 first-round
draft pick, re-injures his knee while playing for the
Spanish national team and misses the entire season.
Curtis Borchardt, 2002 first-round draft pick, breaks
his foot in training camp and is out for the season.
John Stockton became the 7th player
in NBA history to play at the age of 41, starting his
19th season with the team. The team goes through a roller-coaster
season, marked by a surprise performance from Matt Harpring,
who posts a career year with the Jazz, and a seven-game
suspension handed down to Jerry Sloan after he bumped
an official on January 28 against the Sacramento Kings.
Mark Jackson became the third player in NBA history
to record 10,000 career assists and moved into second
place all-time on the NBA°s all-time assist list, passing
Magic Johnson against the Cleveland Cavaliers on March
16. The Stockton/Jackson combo combine for a staggering
total of 26,031 career assists.
Stockton recorded other milestones
during the season including: becoming just the third
player in NBA history to play 1,500 or more games, passing
John Havlicek for fifth place all-time on the NBA°s
all-time minutes played list, scored the 19,000th point
of his career and passed Robert Parrish for sixth place
all-time on the NBA°s all-time minutes played list.
Karl Malone recorded several milestones during the year
including: passing Nate Thurmond (14,464 rebounds) for
seventh place all-time on the NBA°s all-time rebound
list, recording the 35,000th point and 36,000th points
of his career, recording the 5,000th assist of his career,
playing the 1,400th game of his career, recording his
52,000th and 53,000th minute played; attempting the
25,000th field goal attempt of his career and recording
the 13,000th field goal made of his career.
Utah finishes with a 47-35 record,
their 18th consecutive winning season and 20th at .500
or better. They qualify for their 20th consecutive playoffs
and play the second-seeded Sacramento Kings. For the
second-straight season. The Kings prove to be too much
and win the series, 4-1.
The season-long speculation ends when Stockton abruptly
announces his retirement from basketball on May 2, 2003.
He plays his final game in Sacramento on April 30, 2003,
and leaves the game for the final time to a rousing ovation
from the Kings home crowd. His career is celebrated on
June 7 with a ¿Salute to Stocktonî at the Delta Center.
