Home Arenas

When in New Orleans, the Jazz played their home games in three arenas. These were the Loyola Field House and Municipal Auditorium in 1974 and 1975, and the Louisiana Superdome from 1975 to 1979. After they moved to Salt Lake City, they played at the Salt Palace from 1979 to 1991. They moved to the Delta Center, now known as the EnergySolutions Arena in 1991 where they have been playing all their home games till date.

In 1983, they saw their first winning season under head coach Frank Layden, who went on to win the NBA Coach of the Year award. The Jazz won the Midwest Division Title and made the playoffs. This was the start of playoff appearances for the next twenty seasons in a row.

The Utah Jazz drafted two of their future superstar players in 1984 and 1985, John Stockton and Karl Malone. They became the two most effective players in the team. The Jazz had successful regular seasons but never made it beyond the playoffs in the 1980’s. In 1988, Layden resigned as coach and became president of the team. Jerry Sloan took over as head coach. Under Sloan, the Jazz had their first 50-win season and also went on to win the Midwest Division title.

The 1990’s saw the same fate for the Jazz. They continued to make the playoffs but were always defeated. In 1992, they reached the Western Conference Finals but lost to the Portland Trail Blazers. They made the finals again in 1994 but lost again, this time to the Houston Rockets. They had the same experience in 1995 when they made the conference finals yet again but lost to the Seattle SuperSonics.

The NBA Finals

The Jazz made it to the NBA Finals for the first time in 1997. They faced the Chicago Bulls who defeated them 4-2. The team had strong players at the time including Karl Malone, John Stockton, Greg Ostertag, Shandon Anderson and Howard Eisley. The next year they advanced to the NBA Finals to face the Bulls again. History repeated itself as the Bulls defeated the Jazz once again to win the NBA Championship.

In 2000, the Jazz won the Midwest Division title but again could not make it beyond the playoffs, losing in the second round. In the 2007 playoffs, the Jazz beat the Houston Rockets in the first round and the Golden State Warriors in the second round. They lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals.