Layden was the first NBA head coach of Karl Malone and John Stockton.
Frank Layden, the former Utah Jazz head coach who oversaw the drafting and development of Karl Malone and John Stockton, died Wednesday, according to Deseret News.
Layden spent seven years as Jazz coach during the franchise's early years in Utah in the 1980s, accruing a career record of 277-294 and the 1984 NBA Coach of the Year Award. He also served as head coach of the WNBA's Utah Starzz, the franchise now known as the Las Vegas Aces.
A Brooklyn native, Layden got his coaching start before he even graduated from high school, as he coached the freshman basketball team as a fellow student according to Deseret. After a decade as a high school coach, he returned to his alma mater at Niagara University in 1968 to become basketball coach and athletic director.
Layden entered the NBA in 1976 as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks, then joined the Jazz as general manger when it moved to Utah in 1979. He retained that job when he replaced Tom Nissalke as head coach in 1981.
The coup Layden will always be remembered for is drafting Malone and Stockton in back-to-back drafts. Stockton, coming out of a then-obscure Gonzaga program, was a surprise at 16th overall in 1984, and was followed by Malone at 13th overall in 1985. The pair would come to define Utah basketball through the start of the 21st century.
Layden also drafted Darrell Griffith and Mark Eaton, and traded for Adrian Dantley and Jeff Hornacek, with all of them becoming franchise greats. Six of the seven Jazz players to have their numbers retired by the team were acquired by Layden, the lone exception being Pete Maravich.
The Jazz made the playoffs under Layden every year after 1984, but never advanced past the conference semifinals. He resigned as head coach 17 games into the 1988-89 season while remaining as GM and team president, opening the door for Jerry Sloan to come in and eventually lead the Jazz to the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals.
As good as his basketball eye was, Layden was also known for a quick wit, as compiled by Deseret from his first new conference with the Jazz in 1979:
On his son Scott joining the Jazz staff: “I didn’t hire Scott because he’s my son, I hired him because I’m married to his mother.”
On dealing with players: “I told him, ‘Son, what is it with you? Is it ignorance or apathy?’ He said, ‘Coach, I don’t know and I don’t care.’”
His reply to a fan asking what time the game started: “What time can you be there?”
Hubie Brown, who hired Layden with the Hawks, had high praise for him:
“In my lifetime, I’ve met a lot of funny people. Frank Layden is still the funniest human being I have ever been around. He was on stage 24 hours a day, and he never looked at a piece of paper. It just flows. He was ‘Saturday Night Live’ seven days a week.”
While serving as Jazz president, Layden also took over as Starzz head coach in 1998 but resigned four games into his second season. He resigned from the Jazz not long after and enjoyed retirement, though he later took on a consultant gig with the New York Knicks while his son Scott was the team's general manager.
Category: General Sports
