1981-82 Utah Jazz record: 25-57, missed playoffs
The 1981-82 season marked another losing Utah Jazz season featuring Adrian Dantley not having enough help. Dantley certainly did his part, with his 30.3 points per game bolstered by 6.3 rebound and 4.0 assists per game. It was his fellow Jazzman left dragging their feet.
Dantley’s most talented teammate was historically underrated Utah Jazz mainstay Darrell Griffith. The owner of, arguably, the coolest nickname in human history, Dr. Dunkenstein averaged 19.8 points per game over the season. Point guard Rickey Green contributed a solid season as well, with averages of 14.8 points and 7.8 assists per game.
It simply wasn’t enough, as the Utah Jazz finished the season with an unsightly 25-win total, missing the playoffs by a long shot.
2013-14 Utah Jazz record: 25-57, missed playoffs
The Utah Jazz finished up the 2013-14 season in similarly unspectacular fashion. This squad was built around names that will be more recognizable to younger readers, including a 23-year-old Gordon Hayward, 22-year-old Derrick Favors and 21-year-old Trey Burke. In other words, this was a young Jazz squad, and they lost in the same fashion that many young teams do: frequently.
The most encouraging aspect of this season was Gordon Hayward’s continued growth, as the young wing averaged a well-rounded 16.2 points, 5.2 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game. With the benefit of hindsight, however, it’s clear that the most significant event of this season for the Jazz was the debut of another player altogether.
Rudy Gobert would begin his career with the Utah Jazz in the 2013-14 season. The 9.6 minutes per game he would average do not qualify as a harbinger of what was to come.
Spoiler alert: he’ll be an important part of many of the more successful Utah Jazz seasons we’ll cover in this article.