1989–90 Utah Jazz season

The 1989–90 Utah Jazz season was the 16th season for the Utah Jazz in the National Basketball Association, and their 11th season in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Jazz had the 21st overall pick in the 1989 NBA draft, and selected shooting guard Blue Edwards out of East Carolina University.

The Jazz got off to a fast start early into the regular season by winning seven of their first eight games. The team continued to play solid basketball winning 11 of their 14 games in January, including a nine-game winning streak, and holding a 33–14 record at the All-Star break. The Jazz finished in second place in the Midwest Division with a 55–27 record, and earned the fourth seed in the Western Conference; the team made their seventh consecutive trip to the NBA playoffs.

Karl Malone averaged 31.0 points, 11.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA First Team, while John Stockton averaged 17.2 points, 14.5 assists and 2.7 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team, and Thurl Bailey provided the team with 14.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. In addition, Edwards and Darrell Griffith both contributed 8.9 points per game each, with Edwards being named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, while Bob Hansen provided with 7.6 points per game, Mike Brown averaged 6.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, and Mark Eaton provided with 4.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and led the team with 2.5 blocks per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Miami Arena in Miami, Florida, Malone and Stockton were both selected for the 1990 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Western Conference All-Star team. However, Malone threatened to boycott the All-Star Game, after A.C. Green of the Los Angeles Lakers was voted by the fans as the starting power forward for the Western Conference instead of Malone, who was selected as a reverse. Malone did not play in the All-Star Game due to an ankle injury, despite playing all 82 games this season; Rolando Blackman of the Dallas Mavericks was selected as his replacement. Meanwhile, Hansen participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout. Malone finished in fourth place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Stockton finished in ninth place, and Eaton finished tied in fifth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting.

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1990 NBA playoffs, the Jazz faced off against the 5th–seeded Phoenix Suns, who were led by the quartet of All-Star forward Tom Chambers, All-Star guard Kevin Johnson, Jeff Hornacek, and sixth man Eddie Johnson. The Jazz won Game 1 over the Suns at home, 113–96 at the Salt Palace, but then lost the next two games as the Suns took a 2–1 series lead. The Jazz managed to win Game 4 over the Suns on the road, 105–94 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum to even the series. However, the Jazz lost Game 5 to the Suns at the Salt Palace, 104–102, thus losing in a hard-fought five-game series.

The Jazz finished 22nd in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 517,256 at the Salt Palace during the regular season. Following the season, Hansen was traded to the Sacramento Kings in an off-season three team trade. One notable highlight of the regular season occurred on January 27, 1990, in which Malone scored a career-high of 61 points against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Salt Palace, as the Jazz defeated the Bucks, 144–96.