Dantley Was All That Jazz

2008/09/06 12:25:05 @NBA.com: News

In the SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, Steve Luhm writes "think about Utah's sporting history, except that 30 seasons of NBA basketball are missing. Picture John Stockton not sending the Jazz to the Finals, or Karl Malone not winning two MVP awards. Imagine the 1993 All-Star Game that went overtime not being pl ayed in the Delta Center, or today's fans not being bedazzled by rising star Deron Williams. It could have happened that way, according to former coach, general manager and president Frank Layden, if Adrian Dantley had not spent seven of his 15 NBA seasons in Utah. ‘He played such an important role in those early years of the Jazz,' Layden said. ‘If not for him, maybe we aren't still here, in Salt Lake City.' On Friday night, Dantley joins the greatest players, coaches and contributors in the history of the game when he is inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Dantley's former teammates couldn't be more elated. ‘He carried us, he was the franchise,' recalled Mark Eaton. ‘He was the guy you could count on for 30 [points] every night - the one bona fide All-Star we had.'"
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