Jazz at 35: Utah trades for Jeff Hornacek

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Utah Jazz's Jeff Hornacek brings his hands to his face during the final moments of his team's loss to the Seattle SuperSonics Sunday, June 2, 1996 in Seattle. The Sonics won, 90-86. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

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Traded on Feb. 24, 1994, for Jeff Malone, Jeff Hornacek proved to be the missing piece during Utah's march to the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998. A good passer, Hornacek's main weapon was a consistent outside shot. While Karl Malone and John Stockton were running the pick and roll to perfection, Hornacek created open space by bombing away from beyond the three-point line. (He also rubbed his cheek at the free-throw line as a way of saying hello to his children.) On Nov. 23 against Seattle, the 6-foot-4 guard buried eight consecutive three-pointers. Later that year, he tied the NBA record of 11 consecutive three-pointers. "Jeff made us a good road team," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said.

Hornacek also was able to take some of the ball-handling pressure off Stockton. "Always in basketball life, you're looking for that third scorer," Scott Layden said. "When we made the trade for Hornacek, we became a great team. We became quite a tough team to defend." He finished with 15,659 points and 5,281 assists.

Martin Renzhofer