What the hell does that even mean? I think had Utah and Houston stayed in the same division when the NBA revamped a few years ago, the rivalry would have sustained itself a bit better than it eventually did. Especially if they had met in the playoffs consecutive years like they did in 2007 and 2008. As it is, the franchise has tried to foster a rivalry with Denver, but it really just isn't there. We fans don't hate the Nuggets because there isn't any history between the two teams - at least not at the level as other WC teams. You'd think the two would be natural fits because of their regional connect. But when the Jazz were emerging as a legitimate Western Conference power in the late 80s, Denver was regressed as a franchise and, outside a brief flirtation with the playoffs in 1994, never made much noise. So, like I said, they didn't have a history. No playoff losses, no divisional battles. Maybe in ten or more years Utah fans will look to the Nuggets as rivals, but not now. Not with the franchises only playing in one contested playoff series in the 21st Century. That's a different situation than most any other NBA market. Seattle & Portland were good for so long and connected regionally that a rivalry easily formed. As this thread indicates, the Rockets have a current rivalry with the Texas teams because, well, you're all in Texas. L.A. can pretty much be a rival with anyone because they're the Lakers and everyone universally despises them (and they've got a national following). That's not to say there weren't rivalries over the years. I think, in the 90s, most Jazz fans considered Houston our rivals. We were in the same division and met an awful lot of times in the playoffs (85, 94, 95, 97 and 98) Seattle and the Jazz built a rivalry in the 90s due to their playoff battles in 1992, 1993, 1996 (the epic seven game series in the WCF) and 2000. That rivalry could have continued had the Sonics not moved to Oklahoma City. But since they did, the history between the two teams kind of vanishes and I'm sure the Thunder will look to establish a rivalry with the Hornets and Texas teams. Similar to Seattle, the Jazz built a rivalry with Portland in the 90s through playoff games and I think it'll actually step up in its intensity now that the two are in the same division and the fact Portland lost its natural rival in Seattle. We'll see, though.
I know the posters here see the Jazz as our rivals, however the Boozer-Stockton vs Hakeem thing happened decades ago. Nowadays we just plain hate them for a number of reasons, including them beating us in the playoffs like 10000X times in a row. I guess you can view them as rivals since we've always been eliminated by them, however I don't think its reasonable for them to see us as such since they always end up beating us with a stick. We don't really see Memphis as our rivals now, do we?
well reading the 'article' just made me think one thing: i feel sorry for Dwill to be stuck on that team. Now if Dwill was on the rox...now that would be a dream come true.
They're just not close enough to be a real rival, really only the people with bitterness from, the 90's consider them that (granted we have a lot of those), most people would rather be the cross Texas teams. The only real exception to rivalry being local is the Lakers Celtics due to the sheer volume of NBA finals the 2 of them have played.
Jazzhole fans are just jealous that the Rockets took the Lakers to 7 games while the Jazz get swept or nearly swept by the Lakers every year. The Rockets and most recently the Celtics have pushed the Lakers farther than any other team in the last 3 years. I love the Rockets chances this year, suck on that Jazzholes.
That must be it! I mean, why wouldn't Jazz fans, who actually watched their team make the playoffs and win a series last year, be jealous of something Houston did two years ago? haha, that makes me laugh.
It means, we were never really their rivals, we may have viewed them that way, but it was never sustained for long enough to be mutual, it's like someone said earlier, everyone hates the lakers so they can be your rival, but at the end of the day, it's not a real rivalry because it's a one way street, the only real rival the lakers have wears green.
