Time for Miller to put Dantley's jersey in rafters

At least once a year I write something about the injustice of former Utah Jazz player Adrian Dantley not having his number retired by the Utah Jazz.

Yes, I've already written something about it this year, but with Karl Malone's number retirement hullabaloo the other night, it's appropriate to revisit the issue.

For years the general perception has been that Frank Layden's feud with A.D. was keeping Dantley's No. 4 from going up in the rafters.

However, Layden has supported Dantley several times since then, acknowledging much of the blame in the so-called feud was his.

So I figured it must be Jazz owner Larry Miller who held a grudge.

Then about a month ago I saw Miller on television saying he had nothing against Dantley, that he had great numbers, etc., but he questioned whether he played here long enough to warrant getting his number retired.

It took me all of about 15 minutes on the Internet to find out the answer to Miller's question.

Jeff Hornacek.

If Hornacek was worthy enough to have his number retired, then Dantley's is a no-brainer.

Here's the facts:

Both Hornacek, who had his number retired two years after his retirement, and Dantley, who retired a decade before Hornacek, played parts of 15 seasons in the NBA.

Guess how many seasons each played for the Utah Jazz? Seven.

Guess how many games each played for the Jazz? Hornacek played 477 games, Dantley 461, virtually the same.

Hornacek was traded toward the end of the 1993-94 season from Philadelphia after playing several years in Phoenix. Dantley's seven-plus seasons in Utah were in the middle of a career that included brief stints in Buffalo, Indiana and Los Angeles before going to Detroit, Dallas and finishing up for 10 games in Milwaukee in his last season after suffering a broken leg.

OK, so the argument against Dantley not playing long enough in Utah has been quashed if you compare him to Hornacek.

Now let's look at the numbers.

Dantley scored 23,177 career points, which was the ninth-highest in NBA history when he retired. Of those 23,177, 13,635 were scored as a member of the Utah Jazz, approximately 60 percent.

Hornacek scored 15,659 points in his career with 6,848 coming in Utah.