The Jazz have not won the championship once in 51 years and have entered the finals twice. Unfortunately, they met Jordan

On June 26, in the long history of the NBA, the Utah Jazz are a respectable but slightly sad name. Since its founding in 1974, this team has gone through 51 years, but has never won the O'Brien Cup. They made it to the finals twice, but both returned in a miserable way, and it was the God of basketball, Michael Jordan, who blocked them. Without Jordan, the Jazz's history might have added one or even two championship trophys, but competitive sports have no ifs, only cruel reality and eternal regrets. The rise of the Jazz began in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Under Jerry Sloan's coaching, the team gradually formed a iron-blooded lineup with Carl Malone and John Stockton as the core. Malone is one of the greatest power forwards in NBA history. nicknamed "Postman", he is known for his unsolved back-to-body singles and stable mid-range shots, and his total score in his career ranks second in history. Stockton is the NBA's assist and steal king. His passes are elusive and his defense is tenacious, and he is a model of traditional point guards. The pair had a tacit understanding, leading the Jazz to become a Western Conference champion, and reached the Finals for two consecutive years in the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons.

However, their opponents are the Chicago Bulls at the peak and the unstoppable Michael Jordan. In the 1997 Finals, the Jazz and the Bulls had a six-game battle. In the critical fifth game, Jordan played with illness and scored 38 points, including the winning goal in the last moment, helping the Bulls take a 3-2 lead. Despite Malone and Stockton's best efforts, the Jazz eventually lost 2-4. Malone averaged 23.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, Stockton averaged 15 points and 8.8 assists per game, but Jordan's averaged 32.3 points per game made them lose. In 1998, the Jazz made a comeback and met the Bulls again in the finals. This time, they had the advantage for a while, and even led by 1 point in the last moment of Game 6. However, Jordan completed one of the greatest finale in NBA history—he stole Malone and then hit a winning jump shot under Byron Russell’s defense, helping the Bulls finish their second three-game title. The Jazz are backboard again, and Malone and Stockton's dream of winning is broken again. That final victory became a classic moment in Jordan's career, but it also became an eternal pain in the hearts of Jazz fans.

Without Jordan, the Jazz would likely win the championship in 1997 or 1998. Although the Bulls were strong at that time, the other players except Jordan were not in a stable state. Pippen was troubled by a back injury, and Rodman had passed his peak period. The Jazz's lineup is complete and the offense and defense are balanced. Malone and Stockton are at their peak, and role players such as Hornersek and Osttarger also perform their duties. They are a team built for the championship, but unfortunately they met the greatest player in basketball history. The tragedy of the Jazz is not only in their two finals defeats, but also in their inability to break through the competition in the West. In the late 1990s, they faced challenges from powerful teams such as the Lakers and Spurs; after entering the 21st century, although the new double-shame combination of Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer rose briefly, the team never returned to the finals. After 2010, the Jazz entered a reconstruction period and it was not until Donovan Mitchell's arrival that rekindled hope. However, even though Mitchell and Gobert led the team to become Western Conference powerhouses in the early 2020s, they still failed to break through the second round of the playoffs. The

Jazz's history is full of "if". If it weren't for Jordan, they might have already realized their dream; if Stockton's three-pointer hit in Game 6 of the 1997 Finals, the result might be different; if Malone was not intercepted by Jordan in Game 6 of the 1998 Finals, the Jazz might have dragged the game into tiebreak. But the cruelty of competitive sports lies in the fact that history cannot be rewritten and regrets will always exist.

Nevertheless, the Jazz are still one of the most respected teams in the NBA. Their tenacity, team basketball and iron-blooded spirit have won the love of countless fans. Malone and Stockton’s pick-and-roll tactics have become a classic case in basketball textbooks, and Coach Sloan’s coaching philosophy has influenced generations of coaches and players. Even without a championship, the Jazz's cultural heritage and competitive spirit are still shining.

Now, the Jazz are still working hard for the first championship in the team history. With the growth of the new generation of players and the operation of management, perhaps in the near future, Salt Lake City will eventually usher in its own championship moment. And that tragic history of confrontation with Jordan will also become part of the Jazz legend, inspiring latecomers to continue pursuing their dreams.