Read More See Full Story. Since , the team has played its home games at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The Jazz were one of the least successful teams in the league in their early years. Although 10 seasons elapsed before the Jazz qualified for their first playoff appearance in , they did not miss the playoffs again until During the late s, John Stockton and Karl Malone arose as the franchise players for the team, and formed one of the most famed point guard—power forward duos in NBA history.
Led by coach Jerry Sloan, who took over for Frank Layden in , they became one of the powerhouse teams of the s, culminating in two NBA Finals appearances in and , where they lost both times to the Chicago Bulls, led by Michael Jordan. Nickname Jazz — The team originated in New Orleans in as the Jazz and club officials decided to keep the name after relocating to Salt Lake City in Who is the greatest Utah Jazz?
To qualify as a greatest player for this team, the player must have played one season for this team. If not, we will remove the player.
Moving to Utah. Despite being barely competitive, the Jazz drew well during their first five years. Read More. See Full Story.
Stockton and Malone era — Two Finals Losses. The Jazz was finally able to capitalize on regular-season success. The franchise began play as an expansion team in as the New Orleans Jazz as a tribute to New Orleans' history of originating Jazz music.
The Jazz moved to Salt Lake City in The Jazz were one of the most unsuccessful teams in the league in their early years, and it would be 10 years before they made a playoff appearance in They would not miss the playoffs again until During the late s, John Stockton and Karl Malone arose as the franchise players for the team, and formed one of the most famed point guard — power forward duos in NBA history.
Led by coach Jerry Sloan , who took over for Frank Layden in , they became one of the powerhouse teams of the s, culminating in two NBA Finals appearances in and , where they lost both times in six games to the Chicago Bulls , led by Michael Jordan. Both Stockton and Malone moved on in After missing the playoffs for three consecutive seasons, the Jazz returned to prominence under the on-court leadership of point guard Deron Williams.
However, partway through the season , the Jazz began a restructuring after the retirement of Jerry Sloan and the trade of Deron Williams to the New Jersey Nets. Quin Snyder was hired as head coach in June Under Snyder's leadership, the Jazz have experienced success.
The team's first major move was to trade for star player Pete Maravich who had played collegiately at LSU from the Atlanta Hawks for two first-round draft picks, three second-round picks, and one third-round pick over the next three years. Maravich struggled with knee injuries from that season onward. Venue issues were a continual problem for the team while on New Orleans. In the Jazz's first season, when they played in the Loyola University Fieldhouse , the basketball court was raised so high that the players' association made the team put a net around the court so that players wouldn't fall off of the court and into the stands.
They also faced the prospect of spending a whole month on the road each year due to Mardi Gras festivities. However, the Superdome's manager at the time, Bill Curl, said that the stadium's management always submitted a list of potential playoff dates to the Jazz management, but these letters were never answered.
The pick would have belonged to the Jazz had they not traded it to Los Angeles to acquire Gail Goodrich two years earlier. To make matters worse, the Jazz had given up the rights to Moses Malone in order to regain one of the three first-round picks used for the Goodrich trade; the combination of Magic and Moses becoming superstars and Goodrich's ineffective, injury-ruined few years in New Orleans made this one of the most lopsided transactions in NBA history.
Despite being barely competitive, the Jazz drew fairly well during their first five years. However, by the franchise was sinking financially. Barry Mendelson, the team's executive vice president for most of the team's early years, said one factor in the team's financial troubles was an 11 percent amusement tax, the highest in the nation at the time.
The team also couldn't attract much local corporate support—an important factor even in those days—or local investors. Battisone concluded that the franchise could not be viable in New Orleans and decided to move elsewhere. After scouting out several new homes, he decided to move to Salt Lake City, even though it was a smaller market than New Orleans at the time. However, Salt Lake City had proven it could support a pro basketball team when it played host to the American Basketball Association 's Utah Stars from to The Stars had been extremely popular in the city, but their financial picture inexplicably collapsed in their last two seasons, and they folded in December after playing only 16 games of the ABA's final season.
Although Salt Lake City was not known for its jazz culture, the team decided to keep the name, as well as the team's original colors of green, purple and gold the colors of Mardi Gras.
Some were offended by the Jazz keeping the franchise name after moving from New Orleans, citing it as a metaphor for the theft of Jazz from its cultural roots.
The Jazz's attendance actually declined slightly after the team's move from New Orleans to Utah, due to a late approval for the move June and poor marketing in the Salt Lake City area. Dantley averaged The team struggled to a mark, but was rewarded with the 2nd overall pick in the NBA Draft, which they used to pick Darrell Griffith of Louisville, another piece of the rebuilding puzzle.
During the NBA Season, the club struggled financially as well as on the court. Despite having perennial All-Star Dantley, a 20 point per game scorer in Griffith; as well as emerging point guard Rickey Green , the Jazz were unable to produce a winning team, going Tom Nissalke departed as coach after the team started the season with an record, and General Manager Frank Layden replaced him.
Layden's coaching wasn't an improvement initially, as the Jazz went the rest of that season to finish For the season, Dantley ended up missing 60 of 82 games due to injury, depriving the team of its leading scorer for much of the season. Newcomer John Drew also missed time, playing in only 44 games. The Jazz ended up being led by Darrell Griffith A rookie 7'4" center, Mark Eaton , began manning the post as well.
The team finished , still out of the playoffs, but an improvement over recent years. The team was losing money, and management was crafting stunts, such as playing games in Las Vegas, to help the team be more profitable.
The team went and won the Midwest Division, their first division title in team history. Despite having homecourt in the best of seven series, the Jazz lost to the more experienced Suns, Jazz fans were not happy a month later, when the team picked an unknown point guard in the 1st round of the NBA Draft , John Stockton of Gonzaga. The Jazz fans on hand for the draft party booed the selection. The season saw the emergence of Mark Eaton as a defensive force.
On the downside, John Drew played only 19 games on the season, depriving the team of their high-scoring sixth man. The Jazz prevailed in the series, , advancing to the second round to face the high-scoring Denver Nuggets. Utah fell to Denver, in the second-round series.
The team's perennial financial woes and instability were somewhat stabilized during April , when Larry H. Malone made an immediate impact in the —86 season , averaging However, starting guard Darrell Griffith missed the entire season with a stress fracture, and the team hovered around the. In the postseason, the Jazz faltered in the first round against the Dallas Mavericks, losing the series 3—1.
During the offseason in , co-owner Sam Battistone was approached to sell the team to Marv Wolfenson and Harvey Ratner, who would have moved the team to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Larry Miller didn't want to sell the team, but due to contractual language in his agreement with Battistone, could have been bought out by the new owners if he refused to sell.
The —87 season was one of change. Adrian Dantley , the team's star player that had carried them through the early years in Utah, was traded to Detroit for Kelly Tripucka , who ended up splitting time with Thurl Bailey. Darrell Griffith, back from injuries that caused him to miss the season, lost his starting spot at guard to Bobby Hansen. John Stockton was warranting more time behind, and in front of, Rickey Green at the point guard position.
Amidst all these changes, the team went on the season, and lost to the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs.
For the Season, John Stockton took over for Rickey Green as the starting point guard, and Karl Malone began establishing himself as one of the better power forwards in the league. That year, the team finished and defeated Portland, 3—1, in the first round, earning a second round matchup with the defending NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers. The Jazz lost Games 4 and 5, but fought back to demolish the Lakers in Game 6, , tying the series In the deciding Game 7, the Lakers prevailed, — But the Jazz had shown they were no longer the pushover of their early days.
During the —89 season, Frank Layden stepped down as head coach of the Jazz after the first 17 games of the season, and was replaced by Jerry Sloan. The Jazz won 51 games and the Midwest Division title as the team grew better overall. Eaton won Defensive Player of the Year for the second time, and it appeared the Jazz were ready to take the next step in the post-season, after having pushed the Los Angeles Lakers to seven games in the 2nd round the previous year.
However, in a playoff upset, the 7 seeded Golden State Warriors defeated the 2 seeded Jazz, 3 games to 0, in the first round, ending the Jazz's season abruptly. In the following year, —90, the Jazz made some changes, with Bobby Hansen supplanting Darrell Griffith as the starting guard alongside Stockton. Also Thurl Bailey, relied on for 19 points per game the previous year, had his role reduced somewhat, as rookie forward—guard Blue Edwards played a prominent role in the front court.
Mike Brown, a backup forward—center, spelled Mark Eaton more frequently. The results were the best win—loss mark in team history, with the Jazz going 55—27 and finishing second in the division to the San Antonio Spurs 56— Karl Malone had his best season statistically, averaging John Stockton averaged Phoenix defeated the Jazz 3—2 in the first round.
Once again, the Jazz were left with questions as to how they could do so well in the regular season but fail to advance in the playoffs.
For the —91 season, the Jazz made another move to improve the team, with a three-way trade being made. The Jazz began the season , then found their stride, going during January and February, with new addition Jeff Malone averaging The Jazz finished , 2nd in the division to San Antonio by 1 game, similar to their division finish the prior year.
In the playoffs, they met the Phoenix Suns for the second year in a row, but this time the Jazz were ready. Game 1 was a blowout in Utah's favor, on Phoenix's home floor, , setting the tone for the series, as Utah eliminated the Suns , earning a second round match-up with the Portland Trail Blazers, the defending Western Conference Champions. The season proved to be the most successful in history, to that time, for the Jazz.
They moved to a newly built home, the Delta Center , a state-of-the art arena that seated 19, fans. This was a huge improvement over the Salt Palace, which seated just over 12, and lacked luxury suites and retail space. Early in the year, a trade brought Tyrone Corbin , a tough, defensive forward, from Minnesota in exchange for fan-favorite Thurl Bailey. The Jazz went over the season, winning the Midwest Division Title for the first time since , and looked to advance farther in the postseason.
In the playoffs, the Jazz defeated the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round, then took care of the Seattle SuperSonics in the second round, , advancing to the Western Conference Finals for the first time, where they faced the Portland Trail Blazers.
Once again, Portland proved to be the superior team, defeating the Jazz in the series and denying them a trip to the NBA Finals. The season proved to be a disappointment compared with the years before, with a mark and 3rd place in the division. The center position, manned capably by Mark Eaton for most of the past decade, became suspect as Eaton struggled with injuries and age.
Hornacek meshed well with Stockton, and the Jazz improved to a 53—29 record for the year. Robinson had averaged In the —95 season, the Jazz had significant depth and talent at their disposal and were expected to make a serious run for the championship.
However, they lost starting center Felton Spencer 34 games into the season with a ruptured Achilles Tendon. The Jazz were deep enough to still finish with a 60—22 record. However, the Jazz lost to the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs , Big man Greg Ostertag was added to the team for the —96 season. The Jazz went , and reached the conference finals for the third time in history, nearly overcoming a 3—1 series deficit, but eventually 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 —97 , the Jazz had their best record in franchise history at 64—18, winning the Midwest Division and finishing with the best overall record in the Western Conference.
The Jazz then met Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the finals, losing to the Bulls 4—2, with the last two games being decided in the final seconds scores of 90—88 and 87— During the offseason, the Jazz made no significant changes to their roster. As the —98 season neared, the Jazz were expected to be contenders for the championship once again. However, Stockton suffered a serious knee injury before the season began, and missed the first 18 games, in which the Jazz went Once Stockton returned, the team went the rest of the way, mirroring their winning pace of the year before, to finish at 62—20 for the season, winning the Midwest Division and also homecourt advantage for the playoffs.
Utah, with a veteran core of Stockton, Malone and Hornacek averaging The Jazz set the tone for the series with a resounding win in Game 1, Game 2 was much closer, a Jazz victory, and Games 3 and 4 in Los Angeles were decided by an average of 7. However, 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.
The Jazz fought back to win Game 5 on the road, 83—81, to trail in the series, with Game 6 and a Game 7 if needed in Salt Lake City. The Jazz held a lead in most of Game 6, but the Bulls rallied, and in the last seconds of the game, Michael Jordan made a famous jump shot to win the game, 87—86, and the series for Chicago, 4—2. In the season , shortened to 50 games due to a lockout , the Jazz finished the season 37—13, tied with the Spurs for the best record in the league.
They defeated the Sacramento Kings in five games in the first round of the playoffs. However, they lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Despite yet another disappointment, Malone was awarded his second MVP. During the —00 season, the Jazz finished 55—27 and 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, Hornacek retired and Howard Eisley was traded in a four-team deal that brought in Donyell Marshall.
In the —01 season, they went 53—29, but they faltered in the playoffs, surrendering a 2—0 series lead in the first round of the playoffs to the Dallas Mavericks , to lose the series It was their earliest exit from the playoffs since the season.
In the —02 season, Andrei Kirilenko made his rookie debut, averaging The team started slowly, going over the first two months, and finished to go overall. They lost to the Sacramento Kings 3—1 in the first round of the playoffs. Prior to the —03 , Marshall and Russell moved on to other teams.
Forward Matt Harpring was brought over from the Philadelphia 76ers. He took over the starting forward spot next to Malone and averaged The Jazz approached 50 wins going into the playoffs , ultimately going 47— They faced the Sacramento Kings once again, losing in a seven-game first round series, 4—1. After the season, the end of an era came when Stockton retired, and Malone left as a free agent to join the Los Angeles Lakers.
With their two franchise cornerstones in Malone and Stockton gone, the team was suddenly lacking a foundation going into the —04 season.
The team featured several unheralded players who emerged into key contributors, including Kirilenko, Raja Bell , and Carlos Arroyo. In particular, Kirilenko demonstrated versatility on both offense and defense and earned a spot in the All-Star Game.
The Jazz missed the playoffs by just one game to the Denver Nuggets , ending their streak of 20 consecutive seasons in the playoffs. During the offseason, the team made moves to bolster their roster, acquiring Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur as free agents and re-signing Carlos Arroyo and Gordan Giricek to extensions. The season was marked by a series of injuries, first to Arroyo and Raul Lopez , and later to Boozer and Kirilenko, which were a large part of the team's fall to the bottom of the division.
When healthy, Boozer filled the power forward position ably, averaging The Jazz ended the —05 season with a record of 26—56, their worst since the season. In the summer of , the Jazz continued to shape their roster by trading three draft picks in order to acquire the 3 pick overall, which they used to select point guard Deron Williams of the University of Illinois. The —06 season was injury-plagued before it even started; Boozer missed the first 49 games and Gordan Giricek and Kirilenko both missed significant time due to injuries.
Okur and Kirilenko, however, showed consistently good play, while Williams, despite a mid-season slump, did not disappoint. However, team owner Larry Miller continually expressed his displeasure with the team's effort during that year. The Jazz stayed in the playoff race until the third-to-last game, when they lost to the Dallas Mavericks.
The Jazz ended the season 41—41 and just 3 games out of the playoffs. Ostertag retired at the end of the season, having spent 10 of his 11 NBA seasons with the team. Several young players were traded away for Golden State Warriors guard Derek Fisher , giving them a veteran point guard. The Jazz were heralded by several major sports websites for drafting well and making good offseason moves. During the —07 season, the Jazz improved considerably compared to the prior years, finishing with a 51—31 record.
Boozer was selected as an All-Star for the first time though he missed the game to a minor injury and center Mehmet Okur was selected to the All-Star game as well. Deron Williams had a breakout sophomore season, finishing third in the league in assists per game with 9. The team also developed a deep bench; in the 10 games that Boozer and Okur the two leading scorers missed, the team went 8—2. Paul Millsap was a pleasant surprise as a rookie, becoming a competent backup to Boozer. Despite the elevated play of the Jazz's budding stars, Kirilenko showed a significant drop in his statistics and seemed to struggle adapting to his reduced role.
This eventually led to a well-publicized breakdown early in the first round of the playoffs. The Jazz faced the Houston Rockets in the first round that year, a matchup of 4- 5 seeds Utah was seeded higher due to winning the Northwest Division, but Houston had a record opposed to Utah's , giving them homecourt in the series.
It was a physical, close-fought matchup, with each of the first 6 games being won by the home team. The Jazz were able to break this trend in the 7th game, beating the Rockets —99 in Houston. The Jazz then went on to face the eighth-seeded Golden State Warriors , who were coming off a historic upset of the 1-seeded Dallas Mavericks who had gone 67—15 in the regular season, one of the best in NBA history.
However, the Jazz easily handled the Warriors, winning the series 4—1, and made their first Western Conference Finals appearance since They selected shooting guard Morris Almond in the first round, although ultimately they made few lineup changes.
The most significant move was in letting Derek Fisher go. Fisher had become a fan favorite due to his strong play, and also a sympathetic one due to his daughter's well-publicized battle with a rare form of eye cancer. Fisher moved to Los Angeles during the offseason to be closer to better care for his daughter, and later signed with the Los Angeles Lakers , with whom he won three championships from — After this, Kirilenko posted on a blog that he wished to be traded from the Jazz and would be willing to walk away from his contract.
However, no trade was made and he remained with the team. During the —08 season , after a trade that sent guard Gordan Giricek to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for guard Kyle Korver , the Jazz ran off a record-tying game home winning streak and improved on the road after a rough December.
Despite the off-season controversy and trade talk, Kirilenko elevated his play, improving all stats from the previous season and seeming content with his new role more as a defender and a facilitator as opposed to a scorer.
Carlos Boozer again won an All-Star selection, while Deron Williams continued to elevate his play, averaging The Jazz finished the regular season 5th best in the west with a 54—28 record. For the first time since the season, the Jazz sold out every home game, and they possessed a phenomenal home record; this was, however, offset by a subpar road record.
The Jazz once again became matched against the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs, this time as a 4 seed although the Rockets possessed home-court advantage due to a better record. The Jazz jumped out to a quick series lead in Houston, but lost the first game in Salt Lake City.
After splitting the next two games, the Jazz dealt the Rockets a blowout victory in game 6, placing them into a second-round matchup with the 1 seed Los Angeles Lakers , their first postseason meeting since the since the Western Conference Finals. Utah lost games 1 and 2 in Los Angeles. However the Jazz held up their great home winning record by defeating Los Angeles in Games 3 and 4. The Jazz lost game 5 in L. The Jazz made no major offseason moves during the following offseason, though Deron Williams was an integral part of the Gold-Medal winning Redeem Team at the Olympics in Beijing, China.
The —09 season was difficult for the Jazz as they struggled with consistent injuries that continually disrupted the chemistry of the team, and although they were once again nearly unstoppable at home, they possessed a poor road record.
Utah's top three players all missed significant times due to sickness or injuries; Deron Williams missed 13 of the first 15 games, Carlos Boozer missed more than half of the season, and Mehmet Okur missed sporadic time due to both injuries and his father's sickness that forced him to travel to his native Turkey early in the season. On February 20, , Jazz owner Larry H.
Miller died of complications from diabetes. The Jazz finished with a 48—34 record, causing them to slip to 8 in the competitive Western Conference playoff race, after which they were eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers for the second year in a row, 4 games to 1. The season ended up being the last for long-time radio and former TV announcer Hot Rod Hundley , who announced his retirement after being with the Jazz for their entire history 35 years. Despite the disappointment, Deron Williams proved himself to be one of the elite point guards of the league, averaging Veteran Matt Harpring retired, citing consistent injuries sustained from his physical playing style.
Rumors began to circulate that Boozer wanted a trade, fueled by rumors that the Jazz were shopping him after he chose to "opt-in" to the last year of his contract; however, the team stated publicly that they were not seeking to trade him, and Boozer remained with the team heading into the —10 season.
The Jazz also added rookie shooting guard Wesley Matthews to the lineup after an impressive training camp. As the —10 season began, the Jazz stumbled a bit early, starting off Several trades were made by the team during the season, one that sent promising rookie Eric Maynor and the contract of the retired Matt Harpring to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Another sent starting shooting guard Ronnie Brewer to the Memphis Grizzlies at midseason, a trade which was openly criticized by Deron Williams.
Also, Deron Williams was selected to play in the All-Star Game for the first time, and after a controversial offseason, Carlos Boozer played better than the year prior, averaging He even suggested that he would be happy to stay with Utah long-term. In a tight Western Conference, the Jazz finished the season and lost the division in a tiebreaker with the Denver Nuggets , ending with the 5 seed, matched up with the Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.
Kirilenko, who had missed 13 of the last 15 games of the regular season due to a nagging calf muscle strain, re-aggravated the injury the day before the first game of the playoffs and missed the first round, while Mehmet Okur tore his Achilles tendon in the first game and missed the rest of the playoffs. Despite the injuries, the Jazz played well enough to defeat Denver in the series.
The Jazz were then eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers for the third year in a row, being swept the first 4 game sweep in Jazz history. The Jazz declined to match the offer, allowing Portland to acquire Matthews. Raja Bell was added also, to provide backcourt help after the losses of Korver and Matthews. On June 15, , the Jazz unveiled a new color scheme and logo which represented a return to the old 'music note' logo.
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