1997–98 Utah Jazz season
The 1997–98 NBA season was the Jazz's 24th season in the National Basketball Association, and 19th season in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Jazz entered the season as runner-ups in the 1997 NBA Finals, where they lost to the Chicago Bulls in six games. Without John Stockton for the first 18 games due to a knee injury, the Jazz slowly got off to an 11–7 start to the season after losing three of their first four games. The team also changed their starting lineup, replacing Bryon Russell at small forward with Adam Keefe, and  replacing Greg Ostertag at center with Greg Foster. However, Stockton would eventually return as the Jazz held a 31–15 record at the All-Star break. At midseason, the team traded Foster and Chris Morris to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Rony Seikaly in an effort to bolster the team's depth. However, Seikaly refused to report within the mandated 48 hours required by NBA rules. From there, the trade was called off, and the Jazz took Foster and Morris back. Rumors had it that Seikaly was out with a serious foot injury; however, Seikaly insisted the Jazz torpedoed the  deal and that he wanted to play for them; however, Seikaly's refusal to report effectively killed the deal. After the trade was off, Orlando pivoted and traded Seikaly to the New Jersey Nets, where he would play a total of 18 games over the next 1 1/2 seasons before retiring from the NBA. The Jazz won 31 of their final 36 games after the All-Star break, including an 11-game winning streak between February and March, finishing first place in the Midwest Division with a 62–20 record. They made their fifteenth consecutive trip to the playoffs. The Jazz 's top scorer Karl Malone, who averaged 27.0 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, was part of a Jazz offense that had two other players, Stockton and Jeff Hornacek, averaging double-digits in points. Malone was the only member of the team to play in the 1998 NBA All-Star Game, while being named to the All-NBA First Team, and NBA All-Defensive First Team, and also finished in second place in Most Valuable Player voting behind Michael Jordan. In addition, Hornacek averaged 14.2 points and 1.4 steals per game, while Stockton provided the team with 12.0 points, 8.5  assists and 1.4 steals per game in 64 games, and Russell played a sixth man role, averaging 9.0 points per game off the bench. Second-year guard Shandon Anderson contributed 8.3 points per game off the bench, while Keefe averaged 7.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, Howard Eisley provided with 7.7 points and 4.2 assists per game, and Ostertag led the team with 2.1 blocks per game. In the Western Conference First Round of the playoffs, the Jazz trailed 2–1 to the 8th-seeded Houston Rockets, but managed to win the series in five games. In the Western Conference  Semi-finals, they defeated the San Antonio Spurs in five games. After that, the Jazz swept the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals in four straight games to advance to the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year, and once again, met the Chicago Bulls in a rematch of last year's NBA Finals, in which they lost to the Bulls in six games, just like last year's NBA Finals. Following the season, Antoine Carr signed as a free agent with the Houston Rockets, and Morris signed with the Phoenix Suns. This was the last season the  Jazz earned the top seed in the league and in the conference until the 2020–21 season. Offseason. NBA Draft. The Jazz used two picks; a first round pick on point guard Jacque Vaughn and a second round pick on Nate Erdmann. Vaughn would play with the team for four seasons before going to the Atlanta Hawks and Erdmann was cut from the team right before regular season, therefore signing with Idaho Stampede in the CBA.