A Photographic History of Basketball in Utah

Boys playing basketball at a local YMCA.

Utah State School for the Deaf basketball team.

LDS University men's basketball team.

LDS University men's basketball team.

Gordon Academy girls basketball team.

Girls playing outside at Rowland Hall School. Notice the lack of a backboard.

University of Utah men's basketball team.

LDS University men's basketball team.

Lowell High School girls basketball team.

Henager Business College team. J.C. Henager and William McIntyre are pictured.

West High School girls basketball team. The banner says "Salt Lake High."

Granite High men's basketball team, with one of the first African-American high school basketball players in Utah.

Night and day views of the original Salt Palace. Originally built in 1899, the building hosted some of the earliest basketball games in Salt Lake City. On August 29, 1910, it burned to the ground.

A basketball game outside at what is now likely Liberty Park.

Salt Lake City Fire Department's basketball team.

Deseret basketball team.

A basketball team photo, possibly Southern Utah University.

University of Utah men's basketball team.

Murray High School basketball team.

Goodyear Service basketball team. Most likely a semi-professional team that would have faced local barnstormers.

One of the Goodyear players.

Utah at BYU. The Utes won 41-40.

Soldiers playing basketball at an Army Air Base during World War II. This is likely what is today the Utah Air National Guard base west of Salt Lake City and east of Salt Lake City International Airport.

A basketball game between members of the Civilian Conservation Corps during what appears to be the World War II era. The location could be Fort Douglas.

The University of Utah won the NCAA national championship in 1944. Utah had originally chosen to play in the NIT and lost to Kentucky. The Utes were then invited into the NCAA Tournament as a late replacement for Arkansas after the Razorbacks were involved in an automobile accident. Utah went on to win the NCAA championship. It remains the University's and the state's only NCAA men's basketball title. Utah returned to the national championship game in 1998 before losing to Kentucky.

Ute guard Arnie Ferrin.

Uptown Theatre with a banner honoring the 1944 NCAA champion Utah Utes. The theatre stood where the ZCMI mall once stood.

University of Utah guard Wat Misaka would go on to become the first non-white player to play in what became the modern NBA. He played three games during the 1947-48 season for the New York Knicks.

Brigham Young High School men's basketball team.

University of Utah coach Vadal Peterson and guard Arnie Ferrin.

Fieldhouse at the University of Utah during a basketball game.

A Brigham Young High School player helps another player up.

The Salt Palace II, the original home of the Utah Stars from 1970-75 and the Utah Jazz from 1979-91.

The Stars won Utah's first professional sports championship in 1971. Real Salt Lake won the state's next major professional championship in 2009.

Game 7 of the ABA Finals between the Stars and Kentucky Colonels set an ABA attendance record.

Utah Stars fans rush the court after the team wins the 1971 American Basketball Association championship.

Bill Sharman's 1971 Utah Stars championship ring.

Merv Jackson of the Utah Stars.

Moses Malone of the Utah Stars. Malone would go on to become one of the greatest NBA players of all time, winning three NBA Most Valuable Player awards.

Moses Malone tries to block the shot of a Spirits of St. Louis player. After the Stars folded in 1975, the Spirits of St. Louis were expected to move to Salt Lake City and become the Utah Rockies. The move never happened because the ABA and NBA merged, and the Spirits' owners instead received one of the most famous buyout agreements in professional sports history.

Between the Stars and the Jazz, Utah had another professional basketball team: the Utah Prospectors .

The first meeting between Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird took place in Salt Lake City during the 1979 NCAA national championship game. Johnson's Michigan State Spartans defeated Bird's Indiana State Sycamores.

The side of the Salt Palace advertising a game between the Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics. The Jazz moved to Salt Lake City in 1979.

The 1983-84 Utah Jazz team.

Adrian Dantley was the Utah Jazz's first major star.

The Salt Palace, home of the Utah Jazz from 1979-1991. The Jazz played their final game there in 1991.

John Stockton and Karl Malone were named co-MVPs of the 1993 NBA All-Star Game, which was hosted in Salt Lake City.

Karl Malone makes a hook shot against the Warriors. Karl Malone and John Stockton teamed up to make the Utah Jazz one of the NBA's most successful teams of the 1990s.

John Stockton drives to the hoop for a layup over Shawn Bradley. Stockton is considered by many in Utah to be one of the greatest NBA point guards ever.