The Utah Jazz NBA basketball team plays in the Western Conference’s Northwest Division as part of the National Basketball Association and are based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. The franchise was originally the New Orleans Jazz and was established in 1974. In 1979, the Jazz moved to Utah. During their early years, the Jazz were one of the NBA’s most unsuccessful teams. In 1984, they finally made it into the playoffs and then appeared in the playoffs every year until 2004.

Karl Malone and John Stockton, during the latter part of the 1980s, were the team’s franchise players. They became one of the NBA history’s most famous power forward-point guard pairings ever. Led by their head coach Jerry Sloan, the Jazz were one of the 1990s powerhouse NBA teams. The Jazz played in the NBA Finals in both 1997 and 1998. Both times they lost to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. In 2003, both Malone and Stockton left the Utah Jazz. Utah missed the playoffs three seasons in a row. However the Jazz, led by Deron Williams, their franchise point guard, have become a prominent team once more. The Jazz are Utah’s only big four professional sports team.