1988–89 Utah Jazz season

The 1988–89 Utah Jazz season was the 15th season for the Utah Jazz in the National Basketball Association, and their tenth season in Salt Lake City, Utah.^[1] The Jazz had the 17th overall pick in the 1988 NBA draft, and selected center Eric Leckner from the University of Wyoming.^[2][3][4] During the off-season, the team acquired Mike Brown from the Charlotte Hornets expansion team.^[5][6]

The Jazz got off to a fast start by winning eight of their first ten games of the regular season, which included a seven-game winning streak in November. After an 11–6 start to the season, head coach Frank Layden retired and was replaced with assistant coach Jerry Sloan, who became a full-time head coach.^[7][8][9] Sloan would go on to coach the Jazz for 23 seasons, including two trips to the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998, and 19 playoff appearances out of 22 seasons, including 15 consecutive appearances from 1989 to 2003, and four more from 2007 to 2010 before he resigned midway through the 2010–11 season. The Jazz held a 28–20 record at the All-Star break,^[10] posted a seven-game winning streak in March, and finished in first place in the Midwest Division with a 51–31 record, earning the second seed in the Western Conference.^[11]

Karl Malone averaged 29.1 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA First Team, while sixth man Thurl Bailey averaged 19.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game off the bench, and John Stockton provided the team with 17.1 points, 13.2 assists and 3.2 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team, and to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. In addition, Darrell Griffith provided with 13.8 points per game, while Bob Hansen contributed 7.4 points per game, but only played just 46 games due to injury, Mark Eaton averaged 6.2 points, 10.3 rebounds and 3.8 blocks per game, and was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year,^[12][13][14] and was also named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team, and Brown contributed 4.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.^[15]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Houston Astrodome in Houston, Texas, Malone, Stockton and Eaton were all selected for the 1989 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Western Conference All-Star team; it was Stockton's first ever All-Star appearance, and the first and only All-Star appearance for Eaton.^[16][17][18] Malone scored 28 points along with 9 rebounds, while Stockton contributed 11 points and 17 assists; Malone was named the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player, as the Western Conference defeated the Eastern Conference, 143–134.^[19][20][21] Malone also finished in third place in Most Valuable Player voting, behind Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers, and Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls, while Stockton finished in seventh place, and Eaton finished tied in 13th place;^[22][23] Bailey finished in second place in Sixth Man of the Year voting, behind Eddie Johnson of the Phoenix Suns.^[24][23]

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1989 NBA playoffs, the Jazz faced off against the 7th–seeded Golden State Warriors, a team that featured All-Star forward Chris Mullin, Rookie of the Year, Mitch Richmond, and Terry Teagle. However, the Jazz lost the first two games to the Warriors at home at the Salt Palace, before losing Game 3 on the road, 120–106 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena, thus losing the series in a three-game sweep.^[25][26][27]

The Jazz finished 18th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 509,901 at the Salt Palace during the regular season.^[15][28] During the regular season, the Jazz sold 10,153 season tickets, which was an increase of 550 from the previous season.^[29]