Utah Jazz · Franchise era 1 of 7
The New Orleans Jazz: the Utah Jazz story
Franchise era
1974–75—1978–79
The New Orleans Jazz
Utah Jazz
The story in one sentence
Maravich gave the expansion club a local star, but arena costs and traded draft capital made survival in New Orleans impossible.
Maravich headlines an unstable beginning
Pete Maravich, Truck Robinson and Gail Goodrich gave the era its recognizable core.
Its ending created the conditions for surviving in utah.
Timeline
How it unfolded
The foundation
The franchise context
The Jazz survived a difficult move from New Orleans, then built remarkable continuity around Stockton and Malone before producing two more distinct, durable playoff cores.
1974–75—1978–79
The New Orleans Jazz
Maravich gave the expansion club a local star, but arena costs and traded draft capital made survival in New Orleans impossible.
After 1978–79
What came next
The relocated Jazz struggled financially before a surprise 1984 division title began a run of twenty straight playoff appearances.
The core