Jazz at 35: 1984, a year when it all came together

Nearly a decade after the birth of the franchise in New Orleans and three years after the relocation to Utah, the Jazz were still seeking legitimacy and respect. They needed that one season when the talent on the floor would finally jell, when the fans would get excited and the team would finally command respect around the NBA.
    And that moment arrived in 1984.
    The 1983-1984 season will forever be remembered for the division championship banner being lifted to the rafters of the Salt Palace for the first time in team history. It will be remembered because Adrian Dantley, no longer content to be simply a one-dimensional scorer, evolved into a true NBA star. It will be remembered for the first playoff berth in franchise history.
    "We had good balance on that team," said Frank Layden, who took home a Coach of the Year award for his efforts of that season. "Everyone played his role. We had Adrian scoring, we had Mark Eaton blocking shots. It was a pretty good team."
    It was more than that. It was, perhaps, the team that saved the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City. They scored 115 points per game and were entertaining to the point that the Salt Palace finally began filling up after years of box office apathy.
    More importantly, it was a trailblazing team. That first postseason appearance, where Utah defeated Denver in the first round before losing to the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference semifinals, marked the start of 20 consecutive playoff appearances, which in the NBA's annals ranks third all-time.
    "We never thought about making history," Eaton said. "We were just excited about making the playoffs that year. We were true underdogs. Nobody expected us to do anything that year."
    About the only thing the Jazz didn't do in the four-year era of 1983-1987 is seriously contend for an NBA title. Seemingly everything else was checked off. They drafted John Stockton and Karl Malone, the two most important players in franchise history, in consecutive years. And they had a memorable playoff comeback against the Houston Rockets in Hakeem Olajuwan's rookie year.
    They played host to NBA history in Las Vegas when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar set the all-time scoring record with his trademark hook shot. Beyond Stockton and Malone, they drafted well in the form of Eaton and Thurl Bailey. And they began to endear themselves to Salt Lake City and the rest of the state, becoming a community pillar in the process.
    "It was a whole new feeling when we got into the playoffs," recalled Bailey, who is now a Jazz broadcaster. "We had the entire city behind us. The Salt Palace was filled for the first time. It was the first step. It was a great moment for us and the franchise."
    This was the era that turned everything around for the Jazz. It was now a team with two future superstars. A team with an assistant coach that would soon become head coach and guide the franchise from annual playoff contender to annual championship contender.
    An assistant coach by the name of Jerry Sloan.
    tjones@sltrib.com