From Deseret News archives:
Jazz back in party mood for NBA draft
Admission is free, along with 1,500 hot dogs
For Thursday's 2004 NBA Draft, however, the whole gang is going back to the Delta Center, where a free-admission draft party like those held in previous years is planned.
Doors will open at 4 p.m., with the first 1,500 fans through receiving a free hot dog and soft drink. At 4:30 p.m., the Jazz's new uniforms will be unveiled.
A Fanzz store will be open on the arena floor, selling merchandise featuring the team's new colors and logo (a block-letters look featuring navy blue, it is believed).
From Thursday through Saturday, Fanzz stores throughout Utah will be the only place where new-look Jazz goods can be purchased.
Also Thursday, fans can enter a draft-selection contest, with a trip for two on Delta anywhere in the continental United States the top prize. ESPN's draft coverage begins at 5 p.m. (Mountain Time), followed by actual selections beginning at 5:30 p.m.
IN MOURNING: Jazz coach Jerry Sloan will not return to Utah for Thursday's draft. Instead, he will remain in McLeansboro, Ill., where his wife, Bobbye, who died of pancreatic cancer last Friday, will be buried Saturday.
"He's got to take care of something that's a lot more important than the draft to him," said Jazz basketball operations senior vice president Kevin O'Connor, who will join a group of several dozen Jazz employees and family members traveling to McLeansboro for a Saturday memorial service.
MORE WORK: The USA Basketball selection committee on which O'Connor sits must go back to the drawing board.
According to ESPN.com, teammates Rip Hamilton and Ben Wallace of the NBA-champion Detroit Pistons are the two latest NBA players to reject invitations to play for Team USA at August's Summer Olympics in Greece.
Both reportedly have expressed concerns about security in Athens.
O'Connor, however, said recently he will make the trip — to scout on behalf of the Jazz.
Hamilton is likely to be replaced by Milwaukee's Michael Redd, but the committee now must find a big man to fill the spot it had hoped Wallace would take.
TWO STEALS: A posting on Sports Illustrated's Web site lists an intriguing version of the 10 greatest steals in NBA draft history, and two well-known Jazz picks rank rather high: Karl Malone, taken No. 13 overall in 1985, is No. 1, and John Stockton, No. 16 in 1984, is No. 3.
Larry Bird (sixth in 1978 to Boston), Hal Greer (14th to 1958 Syracuse Nationals) and Nate Archibald (19th to Cincinnati in 1970) round out the top five.
The complete list, with commentary, can be found online at sportsillustrated.cnn.com, or SI.com.
