How To Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day As A Utah Jazz Fan

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Though most Utah Jazz fans will likely (hopefully) be staying in during this St. Patrick’s day, that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of ways to celebrate the team during the holiday. There may not be any parades or dinners celebrated with corned beef hash, Jazz fans can find joy in celebrating these St. Patrick’s themed mementos from Jazz history.

History Of Green And Gold

Though the color most commonly associated with the Jazz is purple, many fans may be surprised to learn that purple isn’t one of the team’s official colors. Instead, those honors belong to navy, green, and gold. What more fitting way to celebrate the holiday than with traditional leprechaun green, trimmed with the folk hero’s gold.

While the Jazz don’t have a green jersey in their current rotation, there’s a long history of the team donning green gear.

When the team first moved to Utah from New Orleans, green was the team’s official road jersey color. Adrian Dantley helped establish the Jazz as an up and coming threat wearing the Green jersey’s as he led the league in scoring in 1981 and 1984.

The Jazz brought the green jerseys back into their rotation when the team redesigned their look in 2010, including an updated look in 2017.

The team had a special “Earned” green jersey the team wore on their Christmas Day game against the Portland Trailblazers in 2018.

It's official: the 'Earned' jersey will debut for the @utahjazz on Christmas day. @millerjryan takes a look at the all-green uniform combo. #TeamIsEverything https://t.co/jTNbTrSlQn pic.twitter.com/dLrYuYfh38

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) December 12, 2018

The Luck Of the Irish

Speaking of Dantley, the Hall of Famer is one of just three players that played for the Jazz who played college ball for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Dantley was joined by fellow Irishmen Duck Williams on the 1979 New Orleans Jazz, the first two Jazz players from Notre Dame to don a Jazz uniform. Though Williams lasted just one season with the Jazz, Dantley was a fixture between 1979 and 1986 before being traded for fellow Irishman Kelly Tripucka who was with the Jazz until 1988.

Jack Cooley appeared in 16 games for the Utah Jazz in 2015.

The Jazz have signed free agent Jack Cooley (6-9, 246, Notre Dame). Details: http://t.co/RxC4lJav7v pic.twitter.com/DFqe1wnZK3

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) August 19, 2014

The Greens

Five different Utah basketball players have had the name Green embroidered on the back of their jerseys, beginning with Steve Green who played 16 games for the Utah Stars in 1975.

Rickey Green, aka The Fastest of Them All made an All-Star game for the Jazz in 1984. Green was a staple of the pre-John Stockton and Karl Malone era Jazz and helped lead the team to its first postseason appearance in the 1983-84 season.

Sean Green played the final game of his career with the Jazz in 1994, recording just two minutes and missing his only shot attempt. Green’s two minutes were the only floortime he saw with the Jazz.

Jazz Sign Erick Green to 10-Day Contract

Details: https://t.co/ceOWhKSvxt pic.twitter.com/5ioaoc4Pf7

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 26, 2016

Erick Green appeared in six games of the Utah Jazz in 2016 but brought a different kind of luck to the Jazz. Green was drafted by the Jazz with the 46th pick in the 2013 NBA draft but was shipped to the Denver Nuggets on draft night in exchange for center Rudy Gobert. Gobert made his All-Star debut in February and is the reigning two-time Defensive Player of the Year. Green appeared in a total of 52 games of which the final six came with the Jazz.

The last player to don the name Green and suit up for the Jazz was Jeff Green who had a rather unremarkable stretch in Utah. Green appeared in 30 games for the Jazz, averaging career-lows in percent field goal percentage and points per game. The Jazz waived Green shortly before Christmas in 2019.