1990–91 Utah Jazz season

The 1990–91 NBA season was the Jazz's 17th season in the National Basketball Association, and 12th season in Salt Lake City, Utah.^[1] Early into the season, the Jazz traveled to Japan to play their first two games against the Phoenix Suns at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.^[2][3][4][5] With the off-season acquisition of All-Star guard Jeff Malone from the Sacramento Kings, who acquired him from the Washington Bullets in a three-team trade,^[6][7][8] the Jazz continued to play sweet music in the regular season with a 26–12 start, and held a 30–16 record at the All-Star break.^[9] They ended up falling one game short of the Midwest Division title with another stellar record of 54–28.^[10] They made their eighth consecutive trip to the playoffs.^[11]

1990–91 Utah Jazz season
Head coach	Jerry Sloan
General manager	Tim Howells
Owner(s)	Larry H. Miller
Arena	Salt Palace
Results
Record	54–28 (.659)
Place	Division: 2nd (Midwest) Conference: 5th (Western)
Playoff finish	Conference semifinals (lost to Trail Blazers 1–4)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	KSTU Prime Sports Intermountain West
Radio	KALL
< 1989–90 1991–92 >

Karl Malone averaged 29.0 points and 11.8 rebounds per game, and was named to the All-NBA First Team, and finished in fifth place in Most Valuable Player voting,^[12][13] while John Stockton averaged 17.2 points, led the league with 14.2 assists, and contributed 2.9 steals per game, while being named to the All-NBA Third Team, and the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. In addition, Jeff Malone finished second on the team in scoring with 18.6 points per game, while sixth man Thurl Bailey provided the team with 12.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, second-year guard Blue Edwards contributed 9.3 points per game, and Mark Eaton provided with 8.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game.^[14] Malone and Stockton were both selected for the 1991 NBA All-Star Game.^[15][16]

In the Western Conference First Round of the playoffs, the Jazz defeated the 4th-seeded Phoenix Suns in four games,^{[17][18][19][20]} but lost in the Western Conference Semi-finals to the Portland Trail Blazers in five games.^{[21][22][23][24]} This was also their final season playing at the Salt Palace. Following the season, Darrell Griffith was released to free agency and then retired.^[25][26]

Draft picks

Main article: 1990 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
2	33	Walter Palmer	C/F	United States	Dartmouth

Roster

1990–91 Utah Jazz roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From F 41 Bailey, Thurl 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1961–04–07 NC State C 40 Brown, Mike 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 257 lb (117 kg) 1963–07–19 George Washington G 21 Brown, Tony 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1960–07–29 Arkansas C 53 Eaton, Mark 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) 275 lb (125 kg) 1957–01–24 UCLA F 30 Edwards, Blue 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1965–10–31 East Carolina G 35 Griffith, Darrell 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1958–06–16 Louisville G 24 Malone, Jeff 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1961–06–28 Mississippi State F 32 Malone, Karl 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1963–07–24 Louisiana Tech C 33 Palmer, Walter 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1968–10–23 Dartmouth G 11 Rudd, Delaney 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1962–11–08 Wake Forest G 12 Stockton, John 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1962–03–26 Gonzaga F 5 Toolson, Andy 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1966–01–19 BYU

Head coach Jerry Sloan Assistant coach(es) Gordon Chiesa David Fredman Phil Johnson Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster Last transaction: April 1, 1991

Regular season

Season standings

Midwest Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-San Antonio Spurs	55	27	.671	—	33–8	22–19	20–8
x-Utah Jazz	54	28	.659	1	36–5	18–23	21-7
x-Houston Rockets	52	30	.634	3	31-10	21–20	20-8
Orlando Magic	31	51	.378	24	24-17	7–34	13–15
Minnesota Timberwolves	29	53	.354	26	21-20	8-33	9-19
Dallas Mavericks	28	54	.341	27	20-21	8–33	7-21
Denver Nuggets	20	62	.244	35	17-24	3-38	8–20

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

#	Western Conference v t e
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Portland Trail Blazers	63	19	.768	–
2	y-San Antonio Spurs	55	27	.671	8
3	x-Los Angeles Lakers	58	24	.707	5
4	x-Phoenix Suns	55	27	.671	8
5	x-Utah Jazz	54	28	.659	9
6	x-Houston Rockets	52	30	.634	11
7	x-Golden State Warriors	44	38	.537	19
8	x-Seattle SuperSonics	41	41	.500	22
9	Orlando Magic	31	51	.378	32
10	Los Angeles Clippers	31	51	.378	32
11	Minnesota Timberwolves	29	53	.354	34
12	Dallas Mavericks	28	54	.341	35
13	Sacramento Kings	25	57	.305	38
14	Denver Nuggets	20	62	.244	43

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1990-91 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHA	CHI	CLE	DAL	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	LAC	LAL	MIA	MIL	MIN	NJN	NYK	ORL	PHI	PHO	POR	SAC	SAS	SEA	UTA	WAS
Atlanta	—	3–1	1–4	1–4	3–2	2–0	1–1	0–5	1–1	1–1	4–1	2–0	1–1	4–0	2–3	1–1	3–1	3–1	1–1	0–4	0–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–2
Boston	1–3	—	3–1	2–2	3–1	2–0	2–0	2–2	1–1	2–0	2–2	2–0	1–1	4–1	2–2	2–0	4–1	5–0	1–1	2–3	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	5–1
Charlotte	4–1	1–3	—	0–5	1–4	1–1	0–2	1–4	1–1	0–2	0–5	1–1	0–2	2–2	2–3	1–1	2–2	0–4	2–0	2–2	0–2	0–2	2–0	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–2
Chicago	4–1	2–2	5–0	—	5–0	2–0	2–0	3–2	1–1	0–2	4–1	2–0	1–1	4–0	4–1	2–0	3–1	4–0	2–0	1–3	1–1	0–2	2–0	0–2	2–0	2–0	3–1
Cleveland	2–3	1–3	4–1	0–5	—	2–0	1–1	2–3	0–2	0–2	1–4	1–1	1–1	3–1	2–3	1–1	2–2	3–1	2–0	2–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–3
Dallas	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	—	3–1	0–2	2–2	1–3	2–0	1–3	2–2	0–2	1–1	1–4	2–0	2–0	1–4	1–1	0–4	1–3	2–2	1–4	2–2	0–5	2–0
Denver	1–1	0–2	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–3	—	0–2	1–3	0–5	0–2	0–4	0–4	0–2	1–1	3–2	1–1	1–1	2–3	0–2	0–4	0–4	3–1	1–4	0–4	1–3	1–1
Detroit	5–0	2–2	4–1	2–3	3–2	2–0	2–0	—	1–1	2–0	3–2	2–0	0–2	3–1	2–3	2–0	3–1	1–3	2–0	2–2	0–2	1–1	2–0	0–2	1–1	0–2	3–1
Golden State	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–2	3–1	1–1	—	2–2	1–1	3–2	2–3	2–0	1–1	3–1	1–1	2–0	2–2	2–0	1–3	2–3	2–3	2–2	3–1	1–3	0–2
Houston	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	3–1	5–0	0–2	2–2	—	1–1	2–2	1–3	2–0	2–0	5–0	2–0	2–0	3–2	2–0	3–1	0–4	3–1	2–3	2–2	2–2	1–1
Indiana	1–4	2–2	5–0	1–4	4–1	0–2	2–0	2–3	1–1	1–1	—	1–1	0–2	2–2	2–3	1–1	3–1	2–2	1–1	1–3	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–2
L.A. Clippers	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	3–1	4–0	0–2	2–3	2–2	1–1	—	0–4	0–2	1–1	3–1	1–1	0–2	1–3	0–2	2–3	1–3	3–2	2–2	2–3	1–3	0–2
L.A. Lakers	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–2	4–0	2–0	3–2	3–1	2–0	4–0	—	2–0	0–2	3–1	2–0	1–1	4–0	1–1	3–2	2–3	4–0	3–1	3–2	2–2	2–0
Miami	0–4	1–4	2–2	0–4	1–3	2–0	2–0	1–3	0–2	0–2	2–2	2–0	0–2	—	0–4	0–2	3–3	1–4	1–1	1–4	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	3–2
Milwaukee	3–2	2–2	3–2	1–4	3–2	1–1	1–1	3–2	1–1	0–2	3–2	1–1	2–0	4–0	—	1–1	2–2	4–0	2–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–1
Minnesota	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	4–1	2–3	0–2	1–3	0–5	1–1	1–3	1–3	2–0	1–1	—	1–1	1–1	2–2	2–0	0–4	0–4	3–1	0–4	2–2	1–4	1–1
New Jersey	1–3	1–4	2–2	1–3	2–2	0–2	1–1	1–3	1–1	0–2	1–3	1–1	0–2	3–3	2–2	1–1	—	0–5	1–1	2–3	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	2–3
New York	1–3	0–5	4–0	0–4	1–3	0–2	1–1	3–1	0–2	0–2	2–2	2–0	1–1	4–1	0–4	1–1	5–0	—	0–2	5–1	0–2	0–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–2
Orlando	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	4–1	3–2	0–2	2–2	2–3	1–1	3–1	0–4	1–1	0–2	2–2	1–1	2–0	—	0–2	2–2	0–4	2–2	1–3	1–3	1–4	1–1
Philadelphia	4–0	3–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	1–1	2–0	2–2	0–2	0–2	3–1	2–0	1–1	4–1	2–2	0–2	3–2	1–5	2–0	—	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	3–2
Phoenix	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	4–0	4–0	2–0	3–1	1–3	1–1	3–2	2–3	2–0	1–1	4–0	1–1	2–0	2–2	1–1	—	3–2	3–1	1–3	3–2	2–2	2–0
Portland	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	3–1	4–0	1–1	3–2	4–0	2–0	3–1	3–2	2–0	1–1	4–0	2–0	2–0	4–0	1–1	2–3	—	3–2	2–2	4–0	3–1	2–0
Sacramento	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–2	1–3	0–2	3–2	1–3	0–2	2–3	0–4	1–1	1–1	1–3	1–1	0–2	2–2	1–1	1–3	2–3	—	1–3	1–4	1–3	2–0
San Antonio	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	4–1	4–1	2–0	2–2	3–2	1–1	2–2	1–3	2–0	1–1	4–0	2–0	1–1	3–1	2–0	3–1	2–2	3–1	—	3–1	2–3	2–0
Seattle	1–1	0–2	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–2	4–0	1–1	1–3	2–2	1–1	3–2	2–3	2–0	1–1	2–2	1–1	1–1	3–1	1–1	2–3	0–4	4–1	1–3	—	1–3	2–0
Utah	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–0	5–0	3–1	2–0	3–1	2–2	0–2	3–1	2–2	1–1	1–1	4–1	2–0	0–2	4–1	2–0	2–2	1–3	3–1	3–2	3–1	—	2–0
Washington	2–2	1–5	2–2	1–3	3–1	0–2	1–1	1–3	2–0	1–1	2–2	2–0	0–2	2–3	1–3	1–1	3–2	2–3	1–1	2–3	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	—

Game log

Playoffs

1991 playoff game log
First Round: 3–1 (home: 2–0; road: 1–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 April 25 @ Phoenix W 129–90 Karl Malone (27) Karl Malone (10) John Stockton (15) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 14,487 1–0 2 April 27 @ Phoenix L 92–102 Jeff Malone (23) Karl Malone (14) John Stockton (11) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 14,487 1–1 3 April 30 Phoenix W 107–98 Karl Malone (32) Mike Brown (11) John Stockton (12) Salt Palace 12,616 2–1 4 May 2 Phoenix W 101–93 Karl Malone (38) Karl Malone (13) John Stockton (13) Salt Palace 12,616 3–1
Conference semifinals: 1–4 (home: 1–1; road: 0–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 May 7 @ Portland L 97–117 John Stockton (23) Karl Malone (16) John Stockton (16) Memorial Coliseum 12,884 0–1 2 May 9 @ Portland L 116–118 Karl Malone (40) Karl Malone (16) John Stockton (12) Memorial Coliseum 12,884 0–2 3 May 11 Portland W 107–101 Karl Malone (30) Karl Malone (21) John Stockton (15) Delta Center 12,616 1–2 4 May 12 Portland L 101–104 Karl Malone (31) Karl Malone (12) John Stockton (16) Delta Center 12,616 1–3 5 May 14 @ Portland L 96–103 Karl Malone (26) K. Malone, Eaton (8) John Stockton (14) Memorial Coliseum 12,884 1–4
1991 schedule

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

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Karl Malone	82	82	40.3	.527	.286	.770	11.8	3.3	1.1	1.0	29.0
Jeff Malone	69	69	35.7	.508	.167	.917	3.0	2.1	0.7	0.1	18.6
John Stockton	82	82	37.8	.507	.345	.836	2.9	14.2	2.9	0.2	17.2
Thurl Bailey	82	22	30.3	.458	.000	.808	5.0	1.5	0.6	1.1	12.4
Blue Edwards	62	56	26.0	.526	.250	.701	3.2	1.7	0.9	0.5	9.3
Darrell Griffith	75	2	13.4	.391	.348	.756	1.2	0.5	0.6	0.1	5.7
Mark Eaton	80	80	32.3	.579		.634	8.3	0.6	0.5	2.4	5.1
Mike Brown	82	2	17.0	.454		.742	4.1	0.6	0.4	0.3	4.8
Delaney Rudd	82	0	10.7	.435	.279	.831	0.8	2.6	0.4	0.0	4.0
Pat Cummings	4	0	6.5	.667		.700	1.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.8
Tony Brown	23	0	11.6	.364	.182	.870	1.7	0.6	0.2	0.0	3.4
Andy Toolson	47	15	10.0	.403	.375	.758	1.4	0.7	0.3	0.0	2.9
Walter Palmer	28	0	3.0	.333	.000	.667	0.8	0.2	0.1	0.1	1.4
Chris Munk	11	0	2.6	.429		.583	1.3	0.1	0.1	0.2	1.2
Dan O'Sullivan	21	0	4.0	.438		.636	0.8	0.2	0.0	0.0	1.0

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Karl Malone	9	9	42.6	.455	.000	.846	13.3	3.2	1.0	1.2	29.7
Jeff Malone	9	9	39.0	.493	.000	.917	3.9	3.2	1.0	0.1	20.7
John Stockton	9	9	41.4	.537	.407	.841	4.7	13.8	2.2	0.2	18.2
Blue Edwards	9	9	26.8	.481	.500	.800	3.1	1.8	0.9	0.1	10.1
Mike Brown	9	0	24.8	.482		.842	7.3	0.6	0.3	0.1	9.6
Thurl Bailey	9	0	25.3	.359		.880	3.6	1.0	0.3	0.7	7.6
Mark Eaton	9	9	28.3	.516		.583	6.2	0.6	0.1	1.4	4.3
Darrell Griffith	3	0	3.0	.714			0.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.3
Delaney Rudd	9	0	6.4	.429	.333	.500	0.2	1.9	0.3	0.0	2.7
Tony Brown	4	0	7.3	.500	.500		0.8	0.3	0.0	0.0	2.3
Walter Palmer	2	0	3.0	.250			0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0
Andy Toolson	2	0	2.0	.000	.000		0.0	0.5	0.5	0.0	0.0

Player Statistics Citation:^[14]

Awards and records

• Karl Malone, All-NBA First Team
• John Stockton, All-NBA Third Team
• John Stockton, NBA All-Defensive Second Team

Transactions

References

1. 1990-91 Utah Jazz
2. "Suns and Jazz to Play in Tokyo". United Press International. May 28, 1990. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
3. Rock, Brad (July 20, 1990). "Jazz Schedule Features Opener Vs. Suns in Tokyo". Deseret News. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
4. "NBA 1990-91: NBA Enters a New World as Suns, Jazz Open Season in Tokyo". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. November 2, 1990. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
5. "Sports People; Historical Hoops". The New York Times. November 4, 1990. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
6. "Bullets Get Pervis Ellison in Three-Way Trade: Pro Basketball: Jeff Malone Goes to Jazz, with Hansen and Leckner Going to Sacramento. Nets Deal for Theus, Meaning They Will Probably Pick Coleman". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. June 26, 1990. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
7. Aldridge, David (June 26, 1990). "Bullets Trade Malone in 3-Team Deal for Ellison". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
8. Brady, Jim (June 25, 1990). "Bullets, Jazz, Kings Make Three-Way Deal". United Press International. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
9. "NBA Games Played on February 7, 1991". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
10. "1990–91 Utah Jazz Schedule and Results". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
11. "Utah Jazz". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
12. Smith, Sam (May 21, 1991). "Jordan MVP by a Landslide". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
13. "1990–91 NBA Awards Voting". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
14. "1990–91 Utah Jazz Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
15. Smith, Sam (January 30, 1991). "Pippen Bypassed for All-Star Team". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
16. "1991 NBA All-Star Game: East 116, West 114". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
17. "BASKETBALL; Utah's Malone Terminates Suns' Season". The New York Times. Associated Press. May 3, 1991. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
18. "Whooping It Up". Deseret News. May 3, 1991. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
19. "Jazz 101, Suns 93". United Press International. May 3, 1991. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
20. "1991 NBA Western Conference First Round: Jazz vs. Suns". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
21. "BASKETBALL: THREE TEAMS ADVANCE TO CONFERENCE FINALS; Blazers Take 5 to Chase Jazz". The New York Times. Associated Press. May 15, 1991. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
22. Howard-Cooper, Scott (May 15, 1991). "NBA PLAYOFFS: WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS: Trail Blazers Eliminate Jazz, Look to Lakers". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
23. Rock, Brad (May 15, 1991). "Blazers Look Ready to Take Care of Some Old Business". Deseret News. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
24. "1991 NBA Western Conference Semifinals: Jazz vs. Trail Blazers". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
25. "SPORTS PEOPLE: PRO BASKETBALL; Jazz Waives Griffith". The New York Times. October 22, 1991. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
26. Rock, Brad (October 22, 1991). "Griffith, Jazz Part Company". Deseret News. Retrieved November 22, 2022.

See also

• 1990-91 NBA season