1980–81 Utah Jazz season

NBA professional basketball team season

Head coach

Tom Nissalke

General manager

Frank Layden

Owners

Sam Battistone
Larry Hatfield

Arena

Salt Palace

Results

Record

28–54 (.341)

Place

Division: 5th (Midwest)
Conference: 11th (Western)

Playoff finish

Did not qualify

Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Local media

Television

KSL-TV

Radio

KSL

< 1979–80

1981–82 >

The 1980–81 Utah Jazz season was the team's seventh in the NBA. They began the season hoping to improve upon their 24–58 output from the previous season. The team started the season 12–6 but lost 15 of the next 17 games, however they bested it by four wins, finishing 28–54, but failed to qualify for the playoffs for the seventh straight season.^[1]

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	2	Darrell Griffith	SG	United States	Louisville
1	19	John Duren	PG	United States	Georgetown
4	72	Alan Taylor		United States	Brigham Young
5	94	Wally West		United States	Boston University
6	118	Ken Cunningham	G	United States	Western Michigan
7	140	Dave Colescott		United States	North Carolina
8	163	Jim Brandon		United States	St. Peter's
9	181	Paul Renfro		United States	Texas-Arlington
10	201	Leroy Coleman		United States	Middle Tennessee State

Roster

1980–81 Utah Jazz roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB	From
PF	33	Bennett, Mel	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1955–01–04	Pittsburgh
SF	44	Bristow, Allan	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1951–08–23	Virginia Tech
SG	24	Boone, Ron	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1946–09–06	Idaho State
SF	4	Dantley, Adrian	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	208 lb (94 kg)	1955–02–28	Notre Dame
PG	18	Duren, John	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1958–10–30	Georgetown
F/C	40	Cooper, Wayne	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1956–11–16	New Orleans
PG	14	Green, Ricky	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1954–08–18	Michigan
SG	35	Griffith, Darrell	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1958–06–16	Louisville
PF	11	Hardy, James	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1956–12–01	San Francisco
F	5	Judkins, Jeff	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1956–03–23	Utah
G	12	Nicks, Carl	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1958–10–06	Indiana State
C	50	Poquette, Ben	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	1955–05–07	Central Michigan
C	45	Wilkins, Jeff	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	1955–03–09	Illinois State

Head coach

Tom Nissalke

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Regular season

Season standings

v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-San Antonio Spurs	52	30	.634	–	34–7	18–23	21–9
x-Kansas City Kings	40	42	.488	12.0	24–17	16–25	19–11
x-Houston Rockets	40	42	.488	12.0	25–16	15–26	19–11
Denver Nuggets	37	45	.451	15.0	23–18	14–27	13–17
Utah Jazz	28	54	.341	24.0	20–21	8–33	13–17
Dallas Mavericks	15	67	.183	37.0	11–30	4–37	5–25

#	Western Conference v t e
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Phoenix Suns	57	25	.695	–
2	y-San Antonio Spurs	52	30	.634	5
3	x-Los Angeles Lakers	54	28	.659	3
4	x-Portland Trail Blazers	45	37	.549	12
5	x-Kansas City Kings	40	42	.488	17
6	x-Houston Rockets	40	42	.488	17

7	Golden State Warriors	39	43	.476	18
8	Denver Nuggets	37	45	.451	20
9	San Diego Clippers	36	46	.439	21
10	Seattle SuperSonics	34	48	.415	23
11	Utah Jazz	28	54	.341	29
12	Dallas Mavericks	15	67	.183	42

Notes

z, y – division champions
x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1980-81 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHI	CLE	DAL	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	KCK	LAL	MIL	NJN	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SAS	SDC	SEA	UTA	WAS
Atlanta	—	2–4	2–4	1–5	2–0	1–1	4–2	2–0	1–1	1–5	1–1	0–2	1–5	3–2	2–4	1–5	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–4
Boston	4–2	—	5–1	4–1	2–0	2–0	4–1	1–1	2–0	3–3	1–1	2–0	3–3	6–0	5–1	3–3	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	5–1
Chicago	4–2	1–5	—	5–1	1–1	1–1	5–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	2–0	1–1	3–3	3–2	3–3	2–4	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	5–1
Cleveland	5–1	1–4	1–5	—	2–0	1–1	3–3	1–1	0–2	2–4	0–2	0–2	0–6	3–3	0–5	0–6	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	4–2
Dallas	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	—	3–3	0–2	2–3	0–6	0–2	0–6	0–5	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–4	1–4	1–5	2–3	1–4	1–5	0–2
Denver	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–3	—	2–0	3–2	2–4	1–1	4–2	3–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–4	2–3	2–4	3–2	3–2	2–4	0–2
Detroit	2–4	1–4	1–5	3–3	2–0	0–2	—	0–2	1–1	2–4	1–1	0–2	1–5	3–3	1–5	1–4	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–5
Golden State	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	2–3	2–0	—	3–2	1–1	5–0	1–5	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–4	2–4	1–4	2–4	3–3	4–1	1–1
Houston	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	6–0	4–2	1–1	2–3	—	1–1	2–4	2–3	0–2	2–0	0–2	0–2	1–4	3–2	3–3	1–4	4–1	4–2	0–2
Indiana	5–1	3–3	2–3	4–2	2–0	1–1	4–2	1–1	1–1	—	2–0	0–2	2–4	5–1	3–2	0–6	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	4–2
Kansas City	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–0	6–0	2–4	1–1	0–5	4–2	0–2	—	0–5	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–2	3–2	3–2	2–4	3–2	2–3	5–1	1–1
Los Angeles	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–0	5–0	2–3	2–0	5–1	3–2	2–0	5–0	—	0–2	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–4	3–3	2–3	3–3	6–0	3–2	1–1
Milwaukee	5–1	3–3	3–3	6–0	2–0	1–1	5–1	1–1	2–0	4–2	1–1	2–0	—	5–1	3–3	3–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	4–1
New Jersey	2–3	0–6	2–3	3–3	1–1	1–1	3–3	1–1	0–2	1–5	0–2	0–2	1–5	—	0–6	1–5	1–1	2–0	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–3
New York	4–2	1–5	3–3	5–0	1–1	2–0	5–1	0–2	2–0	2–3	1–1	0–2	3–3	6–0	—	3–3	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	4–2
Philadelphia	5–1	3–3	4–2	6–0	2–0	1–1	4–1	2–0	2–0	6–0	2–0	1–1	2–3	5–1	3–3	—	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	4–2
Phoenix	2–0	0–2	2–0	1–1	4–1	4–1	2–0	4–2	4–1	1–1	2–3	4–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	—	3–3	3–2	6–0	5–1	5–0	1–1
Portland	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	4–1	3–2	2–0	4–2	2–3	2–0	2–3	3–3	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–3	—	2–3	4–2	4–2	2–3	2–0
San Antonio	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	5–1	4–2	2–0	4–1	3–3	0–2	4–2	3–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–2	2–3	3–2	—	4–1	3–2	5–1	1–1
San Diego	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–2	2–3	1–1	4–2	4–1	1–1	2–3	3–3	0–2	2–0	0–2	0–2	0–6	2–4	1–4	—	5–1	3–2	0–2
Seattle	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	4–1	2–3	2–0	3–3	1–4	2–0	3–2	0–6	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–5	2–4	2–3	1–5	—	4–1	1–1
Utah	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	5–1	4–2	2–0	1–4	2–4	1–1	1–5	2–3	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–5	3–2	1–5	2–3	1–4	—	0–2
Washington	4–1	1–5	1–5	2–4	2–0	2–0	5–1	1–1	2–0	2–4	1–1	1–1	1–4	3–3	2–4	2–4	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	—

Game log

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Mel Bennett
Ron Boone
Allan Bristow
Wayne Cooper
Adrian Dantley
John Duren
Rickey Green
Darrell Griffith
James Hardy
Jeff Judkins
Billy McKinney
Dick Miller
Carl Nicks
Ben Poquette
Brett Vroman
Jeff Wilkins

Awards and records

Transactions

Free agents

Subtractions
Player	Date signed	New team
Jerome Whitehead	Expansion Draft May 28, 1980	Dallas Mavericks
Paul Dawkins	October 6, 1980

References

^ 1980-81 Utah Jazz

v t e Utah Jazz
Founded in 1974 Played in New Orleans (1974–1979) Based in Salt Lake City, Utah
Franchise	All-time roster Draft history 1974 expansion draft Records Head coaches Seasons Current season
Arenas	Loyola Field House New Orleans Municipal Auditorium Louisiana Superdome Salt Palace Delta Center
Personnel	Owner(s) Ryan Smith President Jim Olson General manager Justin Zanik Head coach Will Hardy
G League affiliate	Salt Lake City Stars
Retired numbers	1 4 7 9 12 14 32 35 53 1223
Rivalries	Denver Nuggets Houston Rockets
Culture and lore	Radio network Jazz Bear Team mural Craig Bolerjack Thurl Bailey Hot Rod Hundley Dan Roberts KJZZ-TV Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals Celtic Pride Tiffany Coyne "Kill Gil, Volumes I & II" (The Simpsons episode) "Whatever It Takes" (Imagine Dragons song) Suspension of the 2019–20 NBA season Larry H. Miller Gail Miller