The franchise began play as an expansion team in 1974 as the New Orleans Jazz (as a tribute to New Orleans' history of originating Jazz music). The Jazz moved to Salt Lake City in 1979.

The team's first major move was to trade for shooting guard "Pistol Pete" Maravich. The Jazz were looking for someone to generate some excitement for the new club, and Maravich, with his exciting style of play, was seen as the perfect man for the job. Although he won the scoring championship for the 1976-77 season with 31.1 points per game, the Jazz never managed a winning record with Maravich, and he eventually succumbed to knee injuries that ended his career.

A ten-time NBA All-Star, John Stockton led Utah to the playoffs in every one of his 19 seasons. He holds the NBA records for assists (15,806) and steals (3,265) by wide margins.

One of the best power forwards in the history of the NBA, Karl Malone was known as "the Mailman" for his consistent delivery. He collected two regular season MVP Awards, eleven NBA First Team nominations and was also selected to the NBA All-Defensive First Team three times.

Jerry Sloan played 11 seasons in the NBA before beginning a 30-year coaching career, 23 of which were spent as head coach of the Utah Jazz. He was the first coach to have more than 1,000 wins with a single NBA team. On January 31, 2014, the Jazz honored him by raising a banner featuring the number "1223", which represented Sloan's wins (including playoffs) with the Jazz from 1988 to 2011.

Although 10 seasons elapsed before the Jazz qualified for their first playoff appearance in 1984, they did not miss the playoffs again until 2004.

Andrei Kirilenko was nicknamed "AK-47", in reference to both his initials and the jersey number he wore. Coincidentally, Kirilenko was born in the city of Izhevsk, in the former Soviet Union (now in Russia), where the AK-47 rifle was first manufactured.

Over 1,476 NBA games (fourth all-time), and 1,471 starts (most all-time, never coming off the bench after his rookie season), Karl Malone scored 36,928 points (25.0 per game), on .516 shooting. His high field goal percentage benefited from three factors: the pick-and-roll offense; his physical power, enabling him to overpower most forwards; and his ability to run the court, allowing him to convert fast break dunks and lay-ups off assists by teammate John Stockton.

In 1979, Utah traded Spencer Haywood, a five-time All-Star power forward who was averaging 24 points per game for the small forward Dantley, who was six years younger than Haywood but hadn't yet blossomed. Dantley developed into a star in the league, making six All-Star appearances in seven seasons for Utah and averaging more than 30 points per game four times, while Haywood had his basketball career destroyed by a cocaine addiction.

Pete Maravich's 68-point masterpiece against the New York Knicks on February 25, 1977, was at the time the most points ever scored by a guard in a single game, and only two players at any position had ever scored more: Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor.