Dantley honors long overdue

The resistance to retire Adrian Dantley's jersey has, at last, been overcome. That's fitting because Dantley, who ranks 18th on the National Basketball Association's all-time scoring list, helped launch the Utah Jazz's playoff dynasty of 20 years.

Although Dantley played less than half of his professional career in Utah and often clashed with then-coach Frank Layden, it's difficult to argue against Dantley's numbers. He still holds the team record for points per game at 29.6, 4.2 more than celebrated power forward Karl Malone.

Come April, Dantley's No. 4 will be hoisted to the rafters of EnergySolutions Arena, joining players Malone, John Stockton, Jeff Hornacek, Mark Eaton, Darrell Griffith and "Pistol" Pete Maravich. The Jazz also retired the No. 1 for Coach Layden. Dantley, now an assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets, will be honored April 11 when the Jazz host the Nuggets. It's appropriate recognition for a six-time All-Star and two-time NBA scoring leader.

Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller has said that he had resisted retiring Dantley's number because he played less than half of his career in Utah. But Miller, in effect, conceded that argument when the Jazz retired Hornacek's jersey, because he also had played less than half of his career in a Jazz uniform.

As Miller reflected upon Dantley's career, he acknowledged that the undersized power forward helped solidify the early Utah Jazz team, which was underfunded and not immediately embraced by the community after the loss of the ABA championship-winning Utah Stars. The tide turned in 1984 when the Jazz won the Midwest Division with Dantley, Griffith, Rickey Green, Thurl Bailey and John Drew. In subsequent seasons, all-stars Stockton and Malone would join the team.

As for Dantley's tendency to be high-maintenance, the same could be said of a number of professional athletes, including Malone, whose melodramatic spats with Miller were legendary.

In the end, though, both Malone and Dantley delivered on the court. Dantley scored 23,177 points in his 15-year career and remains No. 3 in career scoring behind Malone and Stockton in Jazz record books. Dantley deserves, very much, to mentioned in the same company.