But that was before the Showtime Lakers — with a 6-foot-9 freak of nature at the reins— built one of the all-time best sports rivalries against the Larry Bird-led Boston Celtics throughout the 1980s. The NBA's renaissance had begun and the league has just continued to get more popular right on through today.

But what if Magic had played for the Jazz instead of the Lakers? Would the league be where its at today if the whole Lakers/Celtics rivalry of the '80s had never happened? Would Utah have been an immediate contender with Magic passing the ball to Adrian Dantley and company in the early '80s? Would John Stockton and Karl Malone ever played in Jazz uniforms?

There are plenty of "what ifs" out there.

Here's one for you, Jazz fans. What if you could be like Marty McFly in "Back to the Future"? McFly changed his whole family's fate when he got his dad to stand up against the bully Biff at a high-school dance. If you could go back in time and make it so the Jazz kept their 1979 draft pick and landed Magic, would you?

Yeah, me neither.

Although that DeLorean time machine is cool.

---

E-mail: lojo@desnews.com