Give Dantley his due

Quick — who is the Jazz player with the highest career scoring average?

Most current fans may be surprised to learn that it is neither Karl Malone nor Pete Maravich, but Adrian Dantley, with almost a 30 points per game average.

Why then has the team not retired his number years ago?

I lived in Salt Lake for 11 years and was an avid Jazz fan. I also played with Dantley during a summer camp while he was in high school and followed his impressive career. And he did it in the archetypal Jazz tradition — with hard work. I imagine there is some ancient personal history between Frank Layden and Dantley that is the reason for this oversight, but if that is the case, at this late stage that would seem petty indeed.

Now that the Jazz are rebuilding and before the attention turns to retiring Stockton and Malone's numbers, why not give this forgotten great his due?

Douglas D. Perkins

Nashville, Tenn.