Stockton And Malone Jazz Voted Best Team To Never Win A Title
Apr 27, 2020, 5:46 PM
1998: Karl Malone #32 of the Utah Jazz in action during a game against the Houston Rockets (Getty: Otto Greule Jr )
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – It may be the ultimate participation trophy, but the 1996-97 John Stockton and Karl Malone led Utah Jazz were named the best NBA team to never win a title by SB Nation. The Jazz finished the season 64-18 but were eliminated in the first of two trips by the Michael Jordan led Chicago Bulls.
Throughout April, SB Nation set out to discover the best team in NBA history that never took home the Larry O’Brien trophy. Beginning with 64 teams spread out through the history of the NBA, SB Nation used its team affiliated sites to nominate rosters for the tournament that would be determined by fan voting.
En route to the victory, the Jazz went head to head with the Mike Conley led 2014-15 Memphis Grizzlies, the Steve Nash led 2004-05 Phoenix Suns, the James Harden led 2017-18 Houston Rockets, and the Peja Stojakovic led 2001-02 Sacramento Kings.
We profiled 64 teams. We put 32 in a tournament. We tallied thousands of your votes. I wrote more than 20,000 words. And now, we have a winner.
Your choice for the best NBA team to never win a championship is …
The 1996-97 Utah Jazz! https://t.co/uhUc4vZbMm pic.twitter.com/6QCkVzNkds
— Mike Prada. I have spoken (@MikePradaNBA) April 27, 2020
Eventually, the fan vote led the Jazz to a head to head matchup with the Shaquille O’Neal led 1994-95 Orlando Magic who were knocked off by Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets in a four-game sweep.
That season, the Jazz and Magic met twice with each team winning on one another’s home floor. Jeremiah Jensen of KSL Sports recently found highlights from the season’s two meetings between the teams in the video archives.
1995: Stockton and Malone vs. Penny and Shaq. This was an Orlando Magic team that went to the 1995 #NBA Finals and won 57 games. The @utahjazz won 60. Highlights from both games that season. #KSLSportsArchive #takenote https://t.co/5X1NQknKPR pic.twitter.com/m5lAOMsn2T
— Jeremiah Jensen (@JJSportsBeat) April 21, 2020
In the early rounds of the simulated matchups, SB Nation would weigh the fan vote against the insight of writer Mike Prada and the sports simulation website whatifsports.com. If the fan vote went against both Prada and the site, it would be cast aside and SB Nation would choose the winner.
However, in the finals, the fan vote was the ultimate deciding factor, which led the Jazz to victory, though both Prada and the site agreed with the fans.
“The Jazz were the clear winner in the FanPulse vote,” Prada wrote, “And they a) would’ve been my pick as well, and b) actually won when I simulated for the heck of it.”
Of those who voted, the Jazz took home 65 percent of the fan vote while the Magic earned just 35 percent. Though it may be a little consolation, Jazz fans should find some comfort knowing that a large percentage of NBA fans see the ’90s era roster as one of the best teams who never could breakthrough.
