It's time to take care of Dantley
Brad Rock
Larry H. Miller and Adrian Dantley are at least on speaking terms.
So what are the Jazz waiting for? Dig up the old footage and order roses. As long as they're in a number-retiring mode, it's time to get Dantley's No. 4 in the rafters, too.
The Jazz retired Stockton's number at halftime of Monday's game.
Among the important figures in attendance were Sen. Orrin Hatch, Mayor Rocky Anderson and former Stockton teammates Karl Malone, Jeff Hornacek, Thurl Bailey, Mark Eaton and — of all people — Dantley.
It was, in a sense, incongruous. Eaton, Malone, Bailey and Hornacek, sure. They all played many games with Stockton. But Dantley?
Actually, Dantley played seven seasons with the Jazz from 1979 to 1986. In his final two seasons he was a teammate of Stockton's. He scored 13,625 points with the Jazz — third-most in franchise history — and had the highest scoring average (29.6). He was a six-time All-Star while wearing a Jazz uniform.
Dantley was a star when the Jazz didn't have other stars, box office before anyone was coming through the turnstiles. His career field goal percentage (.540) is among the highest ever among non-centers. He averaged over 30 points in four straight seasons and won two NBA scoring titles.
Yet feelings were raw when Dantley left the Jazz. He held out on his contract in 1984, infuriating Jazz management. Then-coach Frank Layden responded by fining A.D. 30 dimes, or pieces of silver, for being a "Judas."
Locked in a race for the league scoring title one year, Dantley shot the ball nearly every time he touched it in a game near the end of the season. One Jazz staff member later described it as the most selfish performance he had ever seen.
Dantley was traded in 1986, to the relief of both parties. The Jazz got rid of their troublesome star and Dantley left a team he considered unappreciative. They have only occasionally spoken since.
Dantley is now an assistant coach with Denver.
Layden says if he had to do it over, he wouldn't be so demanding. Likewise, Dantley has said the dispute is ancient history. That might be true. Dantley's showing up for Stockton's ceremony spoke volumes.
Of Stockton's former teammates, he was one of only three who came from out of town for the event.
It isn't as though the Jazz have never considered retiring Dantley's number. But one argument is he played just 461 of his 955 games in a Jazz uniform. Yet it was still more games than he played with any of the other six teams for which he played. Pete Maravich's number is hanging in the rafters, and he played only 17 games in Utah.
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