When we look at the big picture, the Utah Jazz has been on top for more years than anyone can remember. Though there were periods of bad seasons, the Jazz have also ridden the highs of memorable and winning seasons. From legendary players, remarkable coaches, die-hard fans, and the best mascot in the NBA, the Utah Jazz is always one of the best teams to get behind.

The Beginning of the Jazz

The Jazz Basketball franchise originated in New Orleans. The team was established for the 1974-1975 season and named the New Orleans Jazz after the rich history of Jazz music in this famous Creole city. Their colors were of course, Mardi Gras green, purple, and gold. The star player of the Jazz while in New Orleans was their own, state basketball hero, Pete Maravich. As the leading scorer of Louisiana State University, he’d been recruited to Atlanta after college, but when the Jazz was formed, they had to bring him home as their star player. While their wealth of fandom reached far across the South, their success was scarce. Scotty Robertson the original coach had 11 losses right off the rim, and was let go after 15 games total.

The Jazz comes to Utah

5 years later, in the summer of 1979, ownership was shuffled around. Sam Battistone, an original owner, decided they needed a new scene and took the team to Salt Lake City. This was a quick decision and move, causing a late start to staffing, ticket sales, and marketing for the season. Resulting in a flat first season in Utah. As the team settled in at the Salt Palace, Battistone insisted on keeping the same name, Jazz, and colors. He had faith in the team, which was confirmed with 24 wins that season. Adrian Dantley, who had been acquired from the LA Lakers was a stand-out player and became the first Jazz All-Star. The biggest personality of the Jazz was the original Utah G.M., Frank Layden. He had a big personality and a talent for deflecting attention from bad seasons and player turmoil in the early years. He accepted the dual role of Head Coach in 1981 and became integral to the team’s success.

Utah Jazz Rises from the Ashes

Utah was ecstatic to have an NBA team and people became loyal fans across the entire state. After 6 years of being tossed around the bottom of the barrel, Utah legend, Larry H. Miller, a car dealer magnate bought 50% of the Jazz franchise in 1985. He helped enrich the roster of players and made way to recruit big talent like Karl Malone. The following year, he bought Battistone out and embedded the Jazz’s future in Utah.

Early on, the dream team rose in unity and fame in the Stockton/Malone era. Their trust and team unity inspired kids in Utah who would replay step-by-step plays by the duo in church ball, Jr. High, High School, and Jr. Jazz leagues. Stockton, the best point guard in the league, was a beast on the court, he knew how to weave in and out of any team to get the ball to Malone. Karl Malone was nicknamed ‘The Mailman,’ cause he ALWAYS delivered. This dream team began selling out the Salt Palace, the smallest arena in the NBA. So, Larry H. Miller built them a 20K seat venue for the 1991-1992 season, which remained sold out for many moons.

Jazz Playoffs

Stockton, Malone, and head coach Jerry Sloan made the Jazz so successful and clinched 2 conference championships, taking the team to the NBA Finals back-to-back in 1997 and 1998. Both years they were up against the legendary Chicago Bulls. Their dream team, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen defeated the Jazz in both NBA championship tournaments. Despite the losses, let’s not forget one of the most memorable plays in basketball history, when MJ clinched the title in game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals with his epic 18’ jumper over Byron Russell in the final 6 seconds of the game. Wow!

Jazz Uniforms

Jazz fans love to embody their team by donning their ever-changing logo, colors, and jerseys. In total, the Utah Jazz have rebranded 6 times in their 43 years of being in Utah. But with so many changing logos and colors, these die-hard fans relish in them all and the fan base finds camaraderie and appreciation of all the past styles.

1979-1996:

Mardi Gras colors reigned with an addition of white. The Jazz logo entails a basketball ‘J-note’.

1996-2004: Out with the ‘J-note’ brought purple mountain majesties with teal and white. This style ushered in one of the most successful eras in Jazz history.

1998-2004: They added an alternate jersey of black and copper.

2004-2010: The new era, with Stockton and Malone retired, colors changed to powder blue, navy, and purple.

2010-2016: Brought back the ‘J-note’ and toned the colors to a navy, forest green, and white rang in a much more subdued uniform than fans had seen in years.

2016-2022: Brought 10 different jerseys! When Nike took over the NBA uniform contract in 2017, we saw more jersey variations than ever before. The rules of home, road, or alternate jerseys were done away with. Teams could wear whichever jerseys they wanted for any game. Utah fans’ jaws dropped with the sunset red, orange, and yellow gradient jerseys which paid homage to Southern Utah’s rich red rocks and famous National Parks.

2022-present: The Jazz have settled on 4 jerseys, 1 utilizing the ‘J-note’ logo,1 with the mountain logo, and 2 basic block jerseys.

Jazz Legends

Upon retirement from basketball, both John Stockton and Karl Malone, the best players in franchise history, had their player numbers retired as an honor of their service to the team. Retiring an athlete’s number is an honor given by the team, which will take their number out of circulation for that team. Other legendary players that have their numbers retired and jerseys hanging in the arena are Pete Maravich, Adrian Dantley, Jeff Hornacek, Mark Eaton, and Darrell Griffith. All these Jazz players have huge legacies.

The Jazz Today

The current Jazz team rocked the 2022-2023 season with Lauri Markkanen as their MVP. Their star players as of late are Jordan Clarkson, Sexton, Olynyk, and Kessler. As big fans, we can’t wait till the 2023 NBA draft to see who comes aboard to rock the court.

Ryan Smith, tech billionaire and owner of the Utah Jazz is merely 42 years old. He purchased the team from the Miller family in 2020. Smith has been a Jazz fan since he was a kid and relished the time he spent watching Jazz games with his Grandfather. He and his wife are huge advocates and donors for children’s cancer research in Utah. They started the Ryan and Ashley Smith Foundation and support Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital.