SALT LAKE CITY-
Before John Stockton and Karl Malone, the Utah Jazz had Adrian Dantley.
The Jazz finally got around to honoring Dantley—the team’s career leader in scoring average—21 years after he was traded from the franchise he helped save.
Utah retired Dantley’s No. 4 on Wednesday, hanging it from the rafters in an arena that didn’t even exist when he was playing in Utah.
“He started it all. The other guys all came later,” said Frank Layden, Dantley’s former coach.
Dantley, now an assistant coach in Denver, was honored Wednesday during halftime of the Nuggets’ game with the Jazz. After several speeches, Dantley got a standing ovation from the fans and players from both teams, who had come out of the locker room for the ceremony.
“I waited a long time,” said Dantley, who was interrupted by applause several times.
Dantley played for the Jazz from 1979—their first season in Utah—through 1986.
The giant No. 4 with the original purple, gold and green trim hangs just to the right of Malone’s No. 32 and two down from Stockton’s No. 12.
Stockton was Dantley’s teammate for his first two seasons, when he was an unknown reserve and long before he became the NBA’s all-time leader in assists and steals. Stockton returned to town for the ceremony and thanked Dantley on behalf of his former teammates.
“We all learned a lot from you and we appreciate it,” Stockton said.
Jazz owner Larry Miller admitted that the gesture was long overdue for Dantley, who was the cornerstone in the Jazz’s transition from one of the worst teams in the league to a perennial playoff contender.
Dantley’s scoring average of 29.6 points is 4.2 higher than that of Malone—the second-leading scorer in league history. His shooting percentage of 56.2 also tops all Jazz players.
Dantley still ranks third in Jazz history in total points (13,635), trailing only Malone and Stockton, despite playing only seven of his 15 NBA seasons here.
Most of the players Dantley now coaches either weren’t born yet or were too young to remember Dantley’s days with the Jazz. He said he was tired of the good-natured ribbing they’d give him every time the team visited Utah.
“Every time we’d come here the last three or four years, they would tell me, ‘Oh, you weren’t that good. If you was that good how come your jersey’s not retired?’ So I don’t have to hear that anymore,” Dantley said.
Dantley said he also wouldn’t mind returning to the Jazz if there was a job opening in the future.
“I just told Larry that Jerry Sloan and Phil Johnson, they won’t be coaching the Utah Jazz forever. So when they retire, give me an interview,” Dantley said.
Dantley’s is the eighth number retired by the Jazz. Pete Maravich was the first when his No. 7 was retired in 1985. Utah retired No. 1 in honor of Layden in 1988, followed by Darrell Griffith (No. 35), Mark Eaton (53), Jeff Hornacek (14), Stockton and Malone.
Dantley’s relationship with the Jazz had grown contentious before the team traded him to Detroit in August 1986. He had clashed with Layden and a brief contract holdout in 1984 also didn’t help.
But everyone said Wednesday that the friendships had long since been repaired, and Layden and Miller both campaigned for Dantley’s induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Dantley was left out again in the voting last week.
Miller was initially reluctant to retire No. 4, but said he came around a few years ago and planned to honor Dantley after Stockton and Malone.
“I accept the responsibility for this being late,” Miller said. “Adrian deserves the recognition from this franchise that he’s getting today.”
