Utah Jazz: Number retirement likely benefitted Dantley

NEW ORLEANS — Jazz coach Jerry Sloan doesn't know why it took Adrian Dantley so long to get tapped for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, which is what finally happened Monday for the former Jazz star and current Denver Nuggets assistant coach.

But Sloan has a hunch regarding something that may have helped Dantley, who was a finalist for seven times over the last eight years.

It's the same theory subscribed to by two former Jazz coaches for whom the six-time NBA All-Star played for from 1979-86 in Utah.

Hopefully retiring his number might have drawn some attention to some people — because I think he might have been overlooked a little bit, Sloan, echoing comments made Sunday by Frank Layden and Tom Nissalke, said Monday. And, quite frankly, they (Hall voters) might have been waiting for that to happen, too.

Whether that's the actually case or not, Sloan suggested he's simply happy to see Dantley — whose uniform No. 4 was retired by the Jazz last season, an honor many inside and outside the organization considered long overdue for someone who twice led the NBA in scoring while in Utah — recognized for his contributions to the game.

Certainly he did a terrific job while he was here, Sloan said.