Jazz finally give A.D. his due
Best of feelings reign as his jersey is retired
All these years gone by.
"This is an emotional day for me. I don't get emotional," said Dantley. "I can't believe the way I'm acting."
Dantley was in town Wednesday for the Jazz-Nuggets game, but even more important, he was here to have his number retired. Time has a way of mellowing most people. As the years pass, they tend to give others more leeway. Old offenses that seemed so important years ago are less so in the softer light of autumn. Thus, the day Dantley had waited for had arrived.
He was happy. He was grateful. He was content. And he was certainly respected. Former coach Frank Layden went so far as to say his own name wouldn't be in the rafters had it not been for Dantley.
It was a good day for perhaps the most misunderstood player in Jazz history; a player said to be aloof and distant. It was also a good day for the Jazz organization and its fans.
It was the day A.D. got his due.
"I loved it here," said Dantley. "Utah will always be my second home."
Layden said he had felt a need to protect the finances of a struggling franchise when Dantley held out over a contract dispute. But now he says he was wrong.
When it was pointed out that both Layden and Miller had mellowed and changed, Dantley was asked if he too had mellowed or changed in the 21 years since he played in Utah.
"The biggest thing is probably communicating a little more. I was young, a little bit stubborn," said Dantley.
The stories of why Dantley was shunned by the Jazz are numerous. There was Dantley's holdout. Also, there was the account of Dantley telling Karl Malone not to sacrifice his body diving for loose balls. And the story of Layden chewing out Malone for missing key free throws and Dantley interfering.
There was also a tale of Dantley turning his back on Miller one night, which precipitated the feud. But Miller corrected that on Wednesday, saying it was actually in Phoenix, the night Layden sent Dantley home from a road trip. Miller said Dantley had turned his back to unwrap the tape from his wrists and when Layden told him to turn around and show some respect, Dantley said, "You don't respect me, so why should I respect you?"
Somehow, none of the stories seemed to matter much on Wednesday.
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