NBA Jersey Week: Best and worst of Jazz unis

The Jazz have been an NBA franchise for over 43 years. Five of those years took place in New Orleans and the rest in Utah. The Utah Jazz franchise have given us some amazing looks on the court beyond Pistol Pete, Karl Malone, and John Stockton. We’ve seen the best and the worst of NBA jerseys.

We’re going to break down the top 5 Utah Jazz jerseys of all-time and the WORST Utah Jazz jersey of all time.

5. Pistol Purple

If it were up to me this would be number one on the list. The Pistol Pete purple, especially with “Pistol” on the back, was just gorgeous. Unabashedly purple—sorry, Uni-watch—it stands out against the all white note logo. This is one throwback I wouldn’t mind Nike reviving in the future.

4. Current Era Utah Jazz Green

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Jazz struck a beautiful chord when they got rid of the past green uniforms with the full note logo on them and just put Utah in all white across the front making a stark contrast on the green jersey. Purple and green should never have been separated from each other on the Jazz color scheme, but we can live with an all green with white and yellow accents.

3. The ORIGINAL Green Jersey

This one the Utah Jazz wore back in the day, but revived for one year during the Deron Williams-Carlos Boozer era. While those two stars wore that jersey, Sundiata “Sun God” Gaines made it a legend when he hit the game winner against LeBron James Cavs while he was on his 10 day contract with Utah. It’s so classically retro that it makes it work. The Utah Jazz may never have a green this bright in its arsenal again, but we hope someday they bring it back.

2. The Purple Mountains

I must admit, I never was a fan of the Utah Jazz mountain logo nor the mountains uniform, but I’m in the minority. Most love the crazy 90’s era uniform with way to big mountains, eccentric color scheme, and the nostalgia of the two NBA Finals runs that jersey brings. Two of the greatest ever wore that jersey and Karl Malone won two MVPs in that jersey. It had the purple mixed with the teal mixed with every color under the sun, but Utah definitely rocked it.

1. The Classic White

This is the uniform John Stockton made into an icon with his short shorts. This is the jersey that was worn as Frank Layden and Jerry Sloan coached this franchise into a staple of the NBA. This is the jersey that was the model of consistency. This is the best. Why? Because it’s the jersey that was worn while Utah turned us all into Jazz fans.

The Worst Jazz Jersey of All-Time

This is a tie between two of the just worst uniforms ever. The first is an atrocity from the latter stage of Malone & Stockton’s careers. This black, copper, and what have you uniform that TARNISHED LEGACIES. This thing clashed on the court and was the staple of Black for Black’s Sake trend that still is plaguing uniforms today.

Next are the pajama uniforms from the Deron Williams era. ANY ONE OF THOSE JERSEYS COULD HAVE MADE IT HERE. That whole era with bland color scheme (which we here at the Dunk call Blue Myself) was terrible. The culmination of the baby blue pajama uniforms that Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer wore during their run into the playoffs. May the never be resurrected again.