Utah Jazz

The Utah Jazz is a professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is currently a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). 

The franchise began in 1974 as the New Orleans Jazz, based in New Orleans, Louisiana, but the team moved to Utah in 1979 after just five seasons. In New Orleans, the Jazz had $5 million in losses over five years. Original owner Sam Battistone decided to move to Salt Lake City, even though it was a smaller market than New Orleans at the time.

After the move to Utah, the team and fans thought it was odd that they kept the name "Jazz" despite the fact that the state of Utah has little to do with the jazz scene. "What's next? The New Orleans Saints will move to Utah and become the Utah Saints?"  But the name stuck.

Though Salt Lake City was not known for any jazz music 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 musicians 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 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 1984, they did not miss the playoffs again until 2004. During the late 1980s, John Stockton and Karl Malone arose as the franchise players for the team and formed one of the most famed pick-and-roll duos in NBA history. Led by coach Jerry Sloan, who took over from Frank Layden in 1988, they became one of the powerhouse teams of the 1990s, culminating in two NBA Finals appearances in 1997 and 1998, where they lost both times to the Chicago Bulls.

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