Jeff Hornacek (L), John Stockton (C) and Karl Malone (R) of the Utah Jazz watch the final seconds of game three of their Western Conference semi-final against the Portland Trail Blazers 22 May 1999 at the Rose Garden in Portland OR. The Trail Blazers beat the Jazz 97-87 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) AFP PHOTO/Robert SULLIVAN (Photo by ROBERT SULLIVAN / AFP) (Photo credit should read ROBERT SULLIVAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Should the Utah Jazz change their name?
Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports)
The Funny Ones that are Still Family Friendly
The Utah Salt Lakers
Obviously a play on the Los Angeles Lakers, who could also consider a rename, if they didn’t have 17 championships attached to the name. Los Angles doesn’t really have lakes, although Salt Lake City famously has one. I’m sure this would cause a lot of confusion, but it’s one of my favorites.
Tagg Romney Presents: The Utah Basketball Shooters, Dribblers, and Bucket Makers
Straight out of a Harlem Globetrotters spoof, the Tagg Romney Presents would certainly be hard to fit on a jersey. While the name is ridiculous, it would be a solid tribute to one of Utah’s most famous families. If you agree with them or not, including their name in the team would certainly be more fitting than the “Jazz.”
I love a descriptive name, and the team formerly known as the Jazz would probably be shooters, dribblers, and bucket makers. After all, that’s what most of a basketball game consists of.
The Utah Razorbacks
It sounds cool, doesn’t it? Until you understand what exactly the participant of the survey meant when he said “razorbacks.” A razorback is usually seen as a wild hog, which is brutish, dangerous, and cool. This is not what was meant. A razorback is also a type of sucker–a three-foot-long, ugly, bottom-feeding fish. Yes, it is critically endangered, and renaming the franchise after the fish could help save it, but do you really want to name a team after a bottom feeder?
!["Utah](https://thejnotes.com/2022/07/12/utah-jazz-change-name/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2134,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fthejnotes.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fimagn-images%2F2017%2F07%2F17769238.jpeg")
also a type of sucker</a>–a three-foot-long, ugly, bottom-feeding fish. Yes, it is critically endangered, and renaming the franchise after the fish could help save it, but do you really want to name a team after a bottom feeder?</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #00265D" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://thejnotes.com/2022/07/12/utah-jazz-change-name/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Good Names for the Team </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-88098" src=https://thejnotes.com/2022/07/12/utah-jazz-change-name/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2370,w_1600/https%3A%2F%2Fthejnotes.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F499301988.jpeg" alt="Utah Jazz" width="1600" height="2370" srcset="https://thejnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/499301988.jpeg 1600w, https://thejnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/499301988-768x1138.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Adrian Dantley of the Utah Jazz (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)</p>
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<h3>Good Names for the New-Look Jazz</h3>
<h4><strong>The Utah Yeti</strong></h4>
<p>The Yeti is a Nepalese cryptid similar to Bigfoot, although the yeti lives in colder, high-altitude environments. Yeti is not native to Utah or the Rocky Mountains, but otherwise, I think this is actually a very fitting name for a team, and I would rock a Yeti jersey even though I’m not the biggest fan of Utah basketball.</p>
<h4><strong>The Utah Arches</strong></h4>
<p>This name would pay tribute to one of the most iconic sceneries in the state: Arches National Park. With more than 2,000 natural sandstone arches, this would be a fitting name and would look great on a jersey. The only issue with it is people might assume a team called the “arches” is from St. Louis.</p>
<h4><strong>The Utah Sundance</strong></h4>
<p>Named after the most famous film festival in America, Sundance would certainly pay homage to Utah’s history and culture, while incorporating those <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2022/07/12/utah-jazz-change-name/2/"https://thejnotes.com/2022/06/29/2022-utah-jazz-jerseys-ranked-worst-to-best/">sunset colors</a> we saw on the 2020 City Jersey.</p>
<h4><strong>The Utah Pioneers</strong></h4>
<p>This is the name that was most frequently suggested in my survey, and I like it, although the next name on the list is just a little bit better. “Pioneers” would pay tribute to the thousands of immigrants who took wagon trains west and settled in Utah and beyond. I just worry that it is not as fierce as it could be.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #00265D" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://thejnotes.com/2022/07/12/utah-jazz-change-name/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> The Best Names Suggested </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-86107" src=https://thejnotes.com/2022/07/12/utah-jazz-change-name/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1162,w_1600/https%3A%2F%2Fthejnotes.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1202784686.jpeg" alt="Utah Jazz" width="1600" height="1162" srcset="https://thejnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1202784686.jpeg 1600w, https://thejnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1202784686-768x558.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><p class="wp-caption-text">John Stockton of the Utah Jazz (Photo by GEORGE FREY/AFP via Getty Images)</p>
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<h3>Truly Great Names</h3>
<h4><strong>The Utah Mountaineers</strong></h4>
<p>Seemingly a no-brainer, Salt Lake City is a high-altitude metropolis in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. I like this just a tad more than the Pioneers, although the University of West Virginia already claims it, so there might have to be some legal precautions taken.</p>
<h4><strong>The Utah Cutthroat</strong></h4>
<p>Another fish name, the cutthroat trout is a beautiful native species found only between the Rockies and the Pacific. Unlike the razorback sucker, the cutthroat trout is clean, pretty, and an icon in the area. On top of that, “cutthroat” is just such a cool name, and they could have a person dressed up as a pirate with a dagger in his mouth during games, which would be awesome. This is my second favorite name suggested, and I would love it if Utah rebranded as the cutthroat trout.</p>
<h4><strong>The Utah Triumph</strong></h4>
<p>This is the best name, and what the Jazz should immediately change to. The Arc de Triomphe is a man-made arch in France to commemorate French soldiers, and Utah has a lot of natural arches already. The U and T in “Utah” could be used in Triumph somehow, and the name just suggests winning and victory, which is what the Jazz finally need to see. The anonymous user who submitted the name summed it up like this:</p>
<blockquote><p>“The Jazz doesn’t fit. I like the Triumph because of the T and U get used again, the word means to prevail or win, and we already have natural “Arc de Triumphs” on our license plates”</p></blockquote>
<p>I personally think this would be the most elegant name in all of sports, and would be over the moon if Triumphs prevailed as the new name.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">
