1979-80 Utah Jazz record: 24-58, missed playoffs
By winning percentage, the first season of Pistol Pete’s tenure with the Jazz was the worst in franchise history. It only seems fitting that their second worst season was his last.
It was also their first season as the Utah Jazz. On paper, they should have been a rousing success. This team boasted a Big 3 of Pete Maravich, Adrian Dantley and Bernard King. For younger readers, Dantley and King were two of the league’s most elite scorers throughout the 80s. Each was especially renowned for their mastery of the midrange, which before the 3-point era was (cue a chorus of horrified gasps) a popular way to score the basketball in the NBA.
Unfortunately, the sum of the Utah Jazz’s season was considerably lesser than its parts. Maravich’s age-related decline was becoming increasingly apparent, as the 32-year-old managed a solid-but-unspectacular 17.1 points and 3.2 assists per game. Perhaps more significantly, Bernard King had comfortably the worst season of his career.
He averaged 9.3 points per game throughout the 1979-80 season. For context, that figure is sandwiched between a 21.6 points per game mark the season before, and 21.9 points per game the season after. For further context, he scored a career high 32.9 points per game for the New York Knicks in 1984-85.
Bernard King could score in droves. He just couldn’t seem to do it for the Utah Jazz. He only managed 19 games as a Jazzman, taking the rest of the season to rehab from substance abuse issues.
As a silver lining, the 1979-80 season marked Dantley’s Jazz debut. He poured in 28.3 points per game for the Utah Jazz that season, and would continue to rack up buckets for the franchise for years to come.