Utah Jazz: The ten most golden moments in franchise history

8. Jazz knock out the Thunder

Ironically, this moment happened in the gold statement jerseys that I so dislike

As a continuation of the story from the previous slide, the Jazz were partially responsible for the demolition of the “Lob City” era in Clippers history. Chris Paul was moved in a sign and trade to the Houston Rockets the following summer, and Blake Griffin was traded to the Detroit Pistons the following winter.

But the Jazz would not escape the summer of 2017 unscathed either. They had the pressure of retaining their one and only All-Star.

Gordon Hayward would make stops in Miami and Boston to hear the pitches from Pat Riley and Danny Ainge on why he should join their respective teams. His final stop was a meeting at his home in Los Angeles, with Dennis Lindsey, Gail Miller, and a couple of Jazz players themselves.

On the morning of July 4th, news broke from Chris Haynes that Hayward was signing with the Celtics, but Hayward and his camp denied they had made a final decision yet. Later that day, Hayward announced it himself on The Players’ Tribune after getting some Jazz fans’ hopes up that he wasn’t leaving.

This is the backstory that makes this slide all that more memorable.

In their first year without Gordon Hayward, the Utah Jazz made it back to the playoffs as the fifth seed, led by a rookie sensation Donovan Mitchell.

Mitchell and the Jazz were able to knock off the Oklahoma City Thunder in six games, despite the Thunder having two proven stars in Russell Westbrook and Paul George.

Donovan Mitchell scored 38 points in the series-clinching win, capping off a spectacular playoff debut that series in which he averaged 28.5 points, 7.2 boards, and shot 46 percent from the field as a rookie.

Technically speaking, this Jazz team did better in the playoffs than Gordon Hayward’s team. They were able to polish off the first round in six instead of seven games, and rather than getting swept in the conference semi-finals, Donovan Mitchell’s team was able to steal a game from the top-seeded Houston Rockets.

They did it all after some critics suggested the Jazz tank the season, making a mockery of their team hashtag changing it from Take Note to tank note.