KSL.com/Salt Lake City At the age of 93, longtime Utah Jazz head coach and team president Frank Layden passed away.
Even decades have passed since the mysterious Layden walked the Jazz’s sidelines. Even though the team has had several well-known players, Layden is credited with helping to establish the Jazz as Utah is today.
In 2022, former Jazz owner Gail Miller told KSL.com, “I don’t think he’ll ever be forgotten.” We wouldn’t be here without him, for those who didn’t know who he was.
During an interview for a position with the New Orleans Jazz in 1979, Layden made his first trips to Utah. He didn’t learn the explanation for the strange interview location until he accepted the offer: the team was relocating to Salt Lake City.
That news made him a little uneasy.
When informed of the relocation, he recalled remarking, “There’s nobody here who’s going to come to your games.” A major league team cannot be supported here. Your arena is terrible.
Sam Battistone, the owner at the time, responded, “I know that’s why we’re hiring you.”
And that faith was fulfilled by Layden.
Thurl Bailey, a former Jazz player and current team broadcaster, told KSL.com in 2022 that you didn’t need a marketing staff with Frank. He was a one-man PR machine, after all.
He transformed a financially struggling, losing, and essentially unknown team into a competitive NBA team that regularly sells out when he moved to Utah. However, it took a while.
In order to make it appear as though they were in the arena, I would offer tickets to homeless people and anybody else, Layden stated.
However, with his well-known charm, things began to change.
After he took over as head coach in 1981, the Jazz earned their first appearance in the playoffs in 1984. He was named NBA Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year in the same year that he coached the NBA All-Star Game.
“Everyone jumped on board when we got good, and they haven’t gotten off,” Layden said.
The fact that Layden was an entertainer as well as a coach contributed to the ease with which people jumped on board.
His memorable one-liners and keen wit were well-known. One example: He joked, “We don’t have nicknames in sports nowadays,” when discussing his difficult Brooklyn childhood. We were known by the nicknames Rocky, Bugsy, Bubba, and Scarface back in Brooklyn. And those were only the supporters.
Bobby Hansen once came to the bench wearing a blood-stained jersey after he dared him to make Michael Jordan bleed.
The issue? He owned it.
Hansen would inform Layden, “Michael is beating the (expletive) out of me.”
And Layden had had enough after a crushing defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1985. Back at the team hotel, his thoughts began to go to the chili and the sandwiches made with bacon, lettuce, and tomato.
I asked myself, “What the hell am I staying for?” as I noticed that others were leaving the Forum as usual. In The Basketball Hall of Shame, Layden said.
Layden stepped out after telling his assistant to take charge. On his way out, he passed the Lakers bench, attracting the attention of Los Angeles coach Pat Riley.
Where are you heading? Riley enquired.
Layden responded, “Why should I stay here and endure this when everyone else is going?” I’m heading over the street for a BLT and some chili.
You know, you look exactly like Utah coach Frank Layden, a man commented back at the hotel coffee shop. This is the hotel where he is staying. Stay put. After the game, he’ll most likely be in here.
As head coach of the Jazz, Layden led the team to five postseason appearances with a regular season record of 277-294. Helping the squad stay in Utah, however, was his most significant victory.
Layden was instrumental in transforming a struggling squad into one of the top NBA teams. In addition to being in charge of drafting Karl Malone and John Stockton, he served as a mentor to Darrel Griffith, Rickey Green, Adrian Griffin, and Mark Eaton.
He resigned in December 1988, citing his fatigue with the position. However, he continued to work for Utah as an executive, holding the positions of general manager and president.
Along with other Jazz greats, Layden’s name is displayed in the rafters of Delta Center, where he was honored with the NBA’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
However, his sudden choice to stop teaching revealed that basketball was his career, not his life.
Was I a decent dad? He said that I didn’t spend enough time with my children. No, I didn’t attend their games long enough. I attended other children’s games. Although I would like to, I am unable to alter that. You cannot get that back now.
He became a regular at his grandchildren’s games in an attempt to make up for missed time.
“I love it,” he added, adding that he has witnessed more girls’ softball and soccer matches than he ever imagined in his lifetime.
What does Layden want to be known for, though, after all the jokes, games, victories, entertaining marketing, and everything else?
All he stated was that he was a good man. You don’t have to go through this dress rehearsal once. Try to accomplish it correctly, then continue.
