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Larry Lambert’s Top 10 Utah Jazz
No championships, but lots of good players.
Though the Jazz has no championships in their history they do have an impressive list of colorful and outstanding players. Part of the problem for the Jazz is their apex occurred when Michael Jordan was in his heyday. In putting this list together, I was surprised at the depth of good players that have played in a Jazz uniform. Some guys I expected to be on the list didn’t make it. One guy that fits that category is Darrell Griffin, aka Doctor Dunkenstein. Darrell was the NBA’s rookie of the year in the 1980–81 season and was good for 20 points a game in the first five years of his career. Truck Robinson was a beast but only spent two years in a Jazz uni. Rich Kelly was like a Henry Finkle with a little more skill.
10: Mark Eaton. This Man Mountain spent all 11 of his seasons in the NBA with the Jazz. He led the NBA in blocks four times, peaking with 5.6 blocks per game in the 1984–85 season. Mark answered the bell almost every time. He appeared in all 82 games four times in his career and appeared in at least 79 games in 10 of his 11 NBA seasons. Not surprisingly for a guy who stood 7’4”, Eaton was a force on the boards, averaging 9.9 rebounds for his career. He wasn’t a particularly great scorer, averaging 7.5 ppg, but that wasn’t where his value was.
