Utah Jazz flashback: Adrian Dantley’s post-hoops crossing guard gig
By Ryan Aston
A look back at Utah Jazz legend and Hall of Fame inductee Adrian Dantley’s unlikely post-basketball gig.
Utah Jazz fans, rejoice! In six weeks, Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert and the gang will return to the court for their 2018-19 season opener against the Sacramento Kings. For me, that October 17 date couldn’t come soon enough. All work and no hoops makes this scribe a dull boy, and, for most of the summer, old game clips have been my only solace.
At a certain point, even that doesn’t quite fill the void. However, during my most recent trip down the Jazz YouTube rabbit hole, I rediscovered something that gives me endless good vibes — stories about Jazz legend, Hall of Famer and bucket-getter extraordinaire Adrian Dantley’s unlikely post-hoops career.
If you haven’t already, meet AD: school crossing guard.
That’s right: Dantley, a six-time All-Star and two-time NBA scoring champ who played for the Jazz from 1979 to 1986, spends his days in retirement helping kids in Silver Spring, Maryland cross the street on their way to and from school.
For AD, a self-described “regular guy,” it’s all about putting in an honest day’s work and doing a little good in his community along the way. Back in 2013, he told ABC News “It definitely has meaning, and I feel like I’m doing something to help the community,” said Dantley. “It’s all about the kids.”
This past March, Dantley was in the sheets once again, showing up on NBC Nightly News. Here’s the update: not only is the former Jazzman still at it on the streets, he’s also returned to the hardwood as a youth basketball referee.
Check it out —
Even now, five years after Dantley’s story first hit the presses, he shows no signs of slowing down. “20 years from now, I’ll be doing the same thing,” he said. “Come back in 20 years from now and I’ll still be a crossing guard and I’ll still be officiating.”
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Dantley may have been famous for tangling with Frank Layden during his time in Utah, but he has always asserted that he’s a good guy at heart. If his humility during a reconciliation with the Jazz organization in 2007 — when his old No. 4 was retired — wasn’t enough to convince you as much, surely this is.
At the least, Dantley’s story should provide the soft, fuzzy feelings requisite to get you through some of the remaining dog days of the NBA offseason.