UTAH JAZZ

The Utah Jazz is a National Basketball Association team based in Salt Lake City , Utah . The Jazz are one of seven teams in the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association. The franchise plays in the Delta Center in Salt Lake City , Utah and wear jerseys of purple, white and yellow. The franchise was originally based in New Orleans , Louisiana and named for that city's musical heritage, the Jazz play in the Delta Center in Salt Lake City , Utah and wear jerseys of purple, white and yellow. The New Orleans Jazz joined the NBA in 1974 as an expansion team and traded two players and four draft picks to the Atlanta Hawks for Pete Maravich. Maravich's behind-the-back passing, fancy dribbling and frequent shooting made the Jazz one of the most popular clubs in the league. After the Jazz posted the NBA's worst record during the 1978-79 season, the ownership decided to move the team to Salt Lake City . In 1981-82 Utah 's general manager Frank Layden, assumed the head coaching duties he began to acquired star players, the Jazz drafted guard Darrell Griffith in 1980 and center Mark Eaton in 1982. In 1984 the team recorded its first winning season, with a 45-37 win-loss mark, and made its first playoff appearance. The Jazz became the first in NBA history to have four of its players lead the lead the league in a major statistical category:

Dantley won the Scoring title, averaging 30.6 points per game, guard Rickey Green topped the league in steals, 2.65 per game, Griffith had the league's best three-point field-goal percentage, 36 percentage, and Eaton led in blocked shots 4.28 per game. In 1984 the Jazz drafted John Stockton from Gonzaga University and Malone in 1985 from Louisiana Tech University . Stockton and Malone formed one of the most effective guard-forward combinations in NBA history and served as the foundation of a winning Jazz team for more than a dozen seasons. They went on to share Most Valuable Player honors at the 1993 All-Star Game. The Utah Jazz has won two Conference titles and six Division Titles. The Jazz finished the 2004-2005 season with a record of 26-56, their worst since the 1981-1982 season. The franchise trade three draft picks in order to acquire the number 3 pick overall, point guard Deron Williams of the University of Illinois . The Jazz also obtained Greg Ostertag from the Kings and dealt oft-injured point guard Raul Lopez to the Memphis Grizzlies and shooting guard Kirk Snyder to the New Orleans Hornets as part of the largest trade in NBA history.