1. John Stockton hits “the shot”
Was there any debate for what should be number one? I don’t think so. Best moment in franchise history by far.
The Utah Jazz made it to the Finals after years of waiting and trying to get over the hump. It didn’t end in a championship. Instead, it went on to pave the way to build Michael Jordan’s greatest legacy of all time.
In the midst of his six rings and two three-peats he seamlessly had while casually taking a baseball break in between, this story too often gets overlooked.
The Jazz made it to back-to-back Finals with homegrown talent, including three future Hall of Famers. A lot of basketball writers use the term “Spurs DNA” when giving compliments of good culture around the league. But the fact is they got it from the Jazz of the late 90s.
Keeping a coach around for the long haul, showing loyalty to him is the first step. Drafting well and developing your players in that system is a critical step. Showing the utmost class, honesty, and looking for players with high integrity and good work ethic is the formula. Gregg Popovich told reporters this when asked about how he became so successful with the Spurs.
Via Bleacher Report:
"“[Utah] was then, and still is, a class organization, and we tried to do it similarly to them as far as how we conducted the program, what we expected, how to do it, how to keep it to yourself, and that sort of thing,”"
Neither the Jazz nor Spurs look for clowns, show-offs, or big egos. They look for basketball players with grit, tenacity, and teamwork. The Spurs got five championships out of it from 1999 to 2014, including 22 straight years of making the playoffs under Popovich.
The Jazz have unfinished business in that department, a project picked up and abandoned by Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer, and Gordon Hayward.
Rudy Gobert and Quin Snyder are here to finish the project and will do everything in their power to bring the Larry O’Brien Trophy to the Wasatch Front for the first time ever. Small market teams winning the chip is a big win for professional sports, and hopefully, the Jazz can join that club soon.