Gordie Chiesa Hour - Remembering Utah Jazz legend Frank Layden

The former Utah Jazz Assistant Coach remembers friend & former boss Frank Layden who passed away yesterday at 93 years old

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Peace out.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Let's get the latest on the Utah Jazz with former
Jazz assistant coach Gordy Chiasa. He's forgotten more about the
NBA than any of us will ever know.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
It's not that crazy.

Speaker 3 (00:14):
Come for the.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
Hoops talk, stay for his list of the day, My
list today.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Here's o c with Basketball sabbat Gordy Chiasa on the
Sean O'Connell show.

Speaker 4 (00:25):
So my thhoting philosophy is the same RECIFFIXI family. You're
there for their betterment, for their whole lives, and.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
You are in the way the father.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
We've played very good.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
We're gonna play better. What a call your one foul?

Speaker 3 (00:40):
Go use it up, says the first How do I
know if somebody didn't put something.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
In the cancel a dickets, We're not even gonna go.

Speaker 4 (00:46):
I was with the Atlanta Hawks when suddenly the opportunity
came to move to the New Orleans Jazz, never knowing
was soon to become the Utah Jazz.

Speaker 5 (01:03):
That sound, of course, many of those quotes the voice
of Frank Laydon from the That was from the trailer
of Noteworthy fifty Seasons of Jazz Basketball, which is a
doctor ventary you could find online courtesy of the Utah
Jazz Frank Lay and the Utah Jazz legend, passed away
yesterday at ninety three years old. And a life well

(01:24):
lived is certainly an understatement. But Gordy Chias is here,
and Gordy has a far more intimate and personal relationship
with Frank than I do, and really, quite frankly, than
most people do in the state of Utah and anywhere else.
And Gordy we're lucky enough to have him here in

(01:44):
studio today. First of all, Gordy condolences, because the most
important thing is is this is a friend of yours
and someone who's you know, important in your life. And
so while everyone is morning, I know that's a lot
more personal for you.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
Thank you, Sean.

Speaker 6 (01:59):
It's it's been a bittersweet less day and a half
or so, but frank Leyden was a dear friend of
mine and my family for many years, and I just
gave it some quick quick insights. I had the privilege
yesterday morning, my wife and I to be with Frank

(02:19):
at seven forty five in the morning, where we noted
over his bed and we sat some prayers that prayers
to bless Frank and Barber, his wife and the family,
and then I tried to make lighter situation because that's
what Frank would want. Yeah, definitely. So I started talking

(02:41):
to him, and Frank was incoherent lying there, and I
was telling stories about Frank, the things he told me
over the years of what he did, et cetera, and
so one of them where he always told me that
he was the worst soldier in the history of the
Nice Dates Army when he back in nineteen fifty seven

(03:03):
when he was a soldier of No Note at Fort Dix,
New Jersey, and that they used to beg him to
not to be a soldier, and that the second I
brought he was the second I said that to him,
he slightly opened his eye.

Speaker 3 (03:19):
Wow, yeah, pretty deep.

Speaker 6 (03:21):
Got through of all things I said to him at
his bedside, my wife and I and that got through.
And he was an American original, that's all called him.
He was authentic. What you see is what you got.
He's the architect of Utah Jazz basketball, for Utah Jazz
basketball and what he representative. But the most important thing

(03:43):
about him was that his kindness that he was. He
treated everyone the same, whether you the custodian at the
Saw Palace or you were the mayor of New York City,
that everyone was important to him, and that he had
this unbelievable connectivity about him and his personality. And by
the way, he was street smart. And also he was

(04:04):
a savvy coach and a chiny evaluator, so with within
that sometimes a large large body, and also through all
the jokes and things going on, he was a shoot.

Speaker 1 (04:17):
As a fox.

Speaker 5 (04:19):
So try to put into context if you can, uh
like the meaning he carried for the Utah Jazz franchise.
Obviously everyone's got stories of what he meant in the
personal life, and I know that you have more and plenty,
and I want you to share any of those that
you're comfortable sharing. But as a coach and executive in

(04:42):
the Utah Jazz Organization and in the formative years of
the Utah Jazz Organization, is it is it even easy
to put into words how much he means to where
the Utah Jazz got to and are still at.

Speaker 6 (04:55):
Yeah, without Larry, Without Larry Miller and Frank Layden, to
be no Utah Jazz. Both of them put it all
on the line to make the franchise highly successful. Just
put it in context, Sean, the other day we went
through the NBA draft, all these guys, et cetera, et cetera.
But when Frank Laydon was the general manager of the

(05:16):
Utah Jazz, besides being the head coach, he had to
sell the first round draft pick, Dominique Wilkins excre in
nineteen eighty two. Dominique Wilkins was the third pick of
the draft, the Jazz first round pick. Just for a
reference point, Number one was James Worthy, Number two was
Terry Cummings. So the Jazz have financial problems. It's before

(05:36):
Larry Miller bought the majority of the team. So Frank
had to trade the rights to Dominique Wilkins, which we
know the Human Highlight film, to acquire an exchange for
John Drew who had a drug addiction problem and Freeman
excrese Freeman Williams and John Drew. And plus he's a

(05:57):
caveat plus one million dollars in cash, and that one
million dollars in cash that kept the Jazz, Salvin, they
needed that money to pay the bills and so he
so he did that.

Speaker 1 (06:10):
So that was night. That was a June nineteen eighty two.
All right.

Speaker 6 (06:14):
So now in the flip side at eighty two. That's
when Frank brilliantly drafted Markitte at number seventy two in
the fourth round. And Mark Eaton became a cornerstone of
the Jazz success where he was an All Star nineteen
eighty nine and he became twice NBA Defensive Player of

(06:35):
the Year. And he gave Mark this unsung player from UCLA.
Mark Eaton scored his college career showing only fifty six
points at UCLA total. I don't mean one game, I
mean the whole total total, fifty six points. And so
Frank saw nothing in him and his personality that Frank
gave him a three year guaranteed contract, which meant that

(06:57):
we were committed to you and your development. And did
it play out?

Speaker 3 (07:01):
Wow?

Speaker 6 (07:02):
So Frank with the architect. Here's some of the draft
picks that he had. It's who's who in basketball. In
nineteen eighty eighty, he drafted Darryl Griffith doctor Dunkenstein, the
second pick of the draft. In nineteen eighty three, he
drafted Besides, he drafted thorough Belly eighty four at number seven,

(07:26):
Thoroughbilly at eighty four. He drafted John Stockton at sixteen
and a number eighty five drafted. The Mailman came alone
at thirteen. So the five guys that really played a
huge part of Jazz basketball, Frank Laydon drafted him. Oh,
by the way, for the younger listeners right now on
ESPN Radio seven hundred, when in the Salt Palace, when

(07:47):
Frank Laydon drafted John Stockton, the consensus people were booing
about him. They booed John Stockton, They booed him that
what a crazy pick the boot John Stockton?

Speaker 3 (07:58):
Wow? Oh really really? And he had played out.

Speaker 6 (08:02):
John Stockton is the all time leader in assist an
all time leader in steals, and talk about being an
iron man in this generation. Stockton played for the Jazz
nineteen years, seventeen times. He played all eighty two games.
So Sean, that guy, Frank laden he is the architect
of basketball.

Speaker 5 (08:24):
In your conversations with him, did he was he able
to impart the secrets of his talent evaluation to you
and to the people around him, Because I mean, you
give us just a couple examples there at thorough Bailey
and John Stockton. If people are booing, that cracks me up.
Because Frank gets the last laugh on that one.

Speaker 3 (08:44):
Very obviously.

Speaker 5 (08:45):
Mark Eaton another great example, and that's one of the
hardest things to do in all of sports and still
is to see something that other people don't see, to
find the diamond in the rough. Because especially now there
are so many resources, there's so much film available, I
imagine it was quite different back then. So did you
ever get in depth with how he was able to

(09:07):
see those things in people?

Speaker 3 (09:08):
Oh, very much.

Speaker 1 (09:09):
Absolutely.

Speaker 6 (09:09):
And let's add to that Scott Layden, his son, became
general manager and then took it to another art form.
And so the Leyden family is both of them, both
Frank and Scott Layden. They were the ones that developed
incredible Utah basketball, besides Larry Miller and then Dave check
its Spence Schek. His dad was a huge part also
in the development of the franchise. So his what Frank

(09:32):
always talked about, one does the guy play hard and
compete hard. Don't tell me when a guy makes three
straight shots, tell me after missus shots what he's going
to do down the floor. So a lot of times
most players, unfortunately in any generation, they played backwards. They
keep thinking about the mistake they made the previous one
to two possessions. Frank who talked about it all the time,

(09:54):
as they as the player goes forward, can he get
out of that mental funk to go down the court
and compete as far as the next possession or two?
So again, the ability to adapt to game environment and
show the inner fortitude. Next part about it is that
does have a certain skill. So a lot of times, Oh,
by the way, this guy can't shoot straight, Now that's troubling. However,

(10:16):
he can rebound like a demon. Or this guy can
rebound like a demon, but he can't finish in lane traffic.
So what you want to do is with Frank always
talked about, was that what can a guy do as
far as his NBA skill and does it translate into
a winning environment if given the proper focus around him.
For the point is the illustration if the world is

(10:38):
almost perfect, whether it's the NFL or the NBA, the
guy next to you on the gridine or the guy
next to you in the court plays slightly different than you.
That's why the pieces fit so showing if you have
all guys that are what offensive minded and want to
take permanent jump shots, and you're playing against a really
rugged team, you're not going to win sure, and so

(10:58):
that was jazz basketball. Frank had the ability to see
guys what they could do, and the Scott Layden had
different layers of that. There was nothing like it. Remember now,
we were the underdogs, the Utah Jazz. They were underdogs.
And that great Popovich always told Frank and all of
us in Utah mean Jerry Stone and I and Phil Johnson,

(11:19):
that they took the model of the Utah Jazz of
the eighties and early in the nineties and took it
to a next step art form of what we did there.
And the Spurs, certainly with five champions later, they messed.
They messed that.

Speaker 3 (11:33):
Gordya Chaz is our guest here on the Sean O'Connell show.
Right now.

Speaker 5 (11:36):
We're talking the legacy of frank Leyden. So many great stories.
Everyone's got a frank Leyden's story, Uh in Salt Lake City,
and uh you're you're seeing those in articles. You're gonna
hear those on the radio. His services, I guess are
on our next Saturday, and you'll see Saturday, this this
coming Saturday, Yes, this coming Saturday. There will be a
lot of I'm sure great stories that come out of that.

Speaker 3 (11:58):
And hy Frank.

Speaker 6 (12:00):
Yes he did. Yeah, Frank Layton. Frank Layden, I didn't
know him and I knew of him but back in
the seventies and eighties. Frank was the coach of Niagara
University back in the seventies then got to the pros
with you B.

Speaker 3 (12:11):
Brown.

Speaker 6 (12:11):
He was U Brown's certant coach of Atlanta Hawks, and
UB and Frank Layden were college roommates and teammates at
Niagara University. So, but I didn't know Scott Leyden. So
when I was coaching at Providence College, Scott called me
the phone and said, my dad wants to talk to you.
And so Frank Layton called me the phone, and I

(12:32):
still never met her, even though all travels to different
different places. And Frank said to me, I want to
I want to talk to you. I want to come
to UH, I want to come to Rhode Island. I
want to meet you. I said, sure, So I said,
so foolishly, Surean, where are you staying? He says, where
I'm staying. I'm staying at your house. Where I'm staying

(12:52):
just like I'm staying at your house, but I'm staying
So I said, of course.

Speaker 3 (12:57):
Sure.

Speaker 6 (12:57):
We had plenty of room. So then Frank's in my
house for two and a half days. Now it gets
so interesting. So then so obviously it was a job
interview without saying a job interview. And so in my
dining room, I was moving.

Speaker 1 (13:10):
I was moving the.

Speaker 6 (13:11):
Uh, the the the uh uh the hatzeg and stuff,
and also the the furniture and stuff. And I was
doing a demonstration of how I would teach uh trap
defense in the n b A. How would I teach
the zone press? How would they teach the uh the
zone defense? Do do I bump the wing to the corner?
Do I keep the corner at home? Et cetera, et cetera?

Speaker 5 (13:34):
Give me the give me a better visual here, So
you're moving furnit furniture this you know that chair is
the man in the.

Speaker 3 (13:40):
Post, exactly right, That's exactly right.

Speaker 6 (13:44):
That that lamp is what the guy bump into the
corner for the corner three point shot the challenge with
a stickhand, all right. And then we talked about, hey,
how would you get our jazz players better? Will be
the drills to get our guys better? What drills would
you do? What's the dribble series, what's the shooting series.
What's the organized one on one? How did you get

(14:05):
him better? So suddenly I'm demonstrating uh in sneakers in
front of Frank laydon all the teaching point. He said
to me, Uh, teach me like you would teach a
player on the court. So even though we're city, where
were you're in, You're in your your living room? Is
that in dining room? How would you do it? So
suddenly Frank's there, you know, Frank's there, and I'm teaching

(14:26):
him every point that I would make without over talking
as far as how to get the jazz players better.
And then then we two and a half days we're together.
So it was my my little my young baby son,
and then my wife and Frank.

Speaker 1 (14:42):
We were together for two and a half days.

Speaker 6 (14:44):
And then and I drove Frank across the UH from
Rhode Island, across the state to Massachusetts to UH to
the Springfield Hall of Fame where he was giving a
speech that on a Saturday. This is on Wednesday, on Saturday.
I drove him over there and we talked again, and
then then Frank's we talked to communicy on the phone often,

(15:04):
and that's when Jerry got involved and So I remember
coming to Salt Lake City when I for the first
time ever I got off the planet. At that time,
there was no you know, as far as you get
your right, you walk right to the gate. I remember
Jerry Sloane saying, Hey, I'm Jerry Stone. Hi, I'm Gordon Ses.
Frank Lane thinks that we should talk. Wow, pretty deep.
So wait, he spent two and a half days at

(15:26):
your house.

Speaker 5 (15:26):
Yeah, you drove him across the state to go to
the Hall of Fame and you didn't know if he
was going to give you a job still when he left?

Speaker 6 (15:32):
Correct, Wow, did not know? No, I did not know
because Jerry didn't know me, which I understand. You know this,
this is the big leagues. You know, at that time
there's only three coaches total. It's hard to believe. It
was Jerry Stone to head coach, Phil Johnson, the great assistant,
and myself. That's it. That was it, the whole sack, right,
and guess what we got everything done?

Speaker 3 (15:54):
Incredible.

Speaker 1 (15:55):
No.

Speaker 6 (15:55):
Again, what happens to the question is I say, in
this generation, hey, are you ag ainy any love in
there any sport? Are you empowered to be a coach
or are you just part of the coaching staff, I
can trust you. In jazz basketball, all three bets were empowered. Wow,
we're empowered. So example, when he when he didn't run
back on defense, and Phil and I would say something
to the players, they they listened. There was no gray area.

(16:18):
Oh are you talking to me? Yeah, I'm talking to
you about running back on defense.

Speaker 3 (16:22):
Okay.

Speaker 5 (16:23):
So, so Jerry meets you at the airport and from
that point, does Frank, you know, influence that relationship. Does
he like you make sure you two get along or
is it just let me leave Gordy and Jerry to
their own devices to figure out if they can work together.

Speaker 6 (16:41):
Correct, that's Zach great. So Frank, Frank was the was
the middle person. Off he was team president at the
time he was team president, he was the boss. He
also Frank late Hi, Jerry hired Phil Johnson, Hi Gordon Shies.
So you had all three people they're gonna be together.
And so Jerry, I and Phil had the longest tenure
of any coaching staff history NBA basketball to be together

(17:02):
in harmony for sixteen years. Wow, sixteen You were together
for sixteen years on the airplane above sea level thirty
five thousand feet, Whether the good time mostly is good
times always or some of the lesser times. And we
were together, which shows you that Frank knew everybody's personality
of what each person hopefully expertise, what they were, and

(17:23):
how they would mesh together to make this formula what
it was. So again when I met Jerry, we went back,
went back to the married hotel. Jerry said to me, hey, Gordy,
do the exact same clinic that you did for Frank
Laden And he told me at your house, let's do
it right now. So I'm doing the exact same clinic
in the lobby of the Marriot.

Speaker 3 (17:43):
People thought, you have bodies at least people.

Speaker 1 (17:46):
No, there's no bodies.

Speaker 6 (17:47):
No, there was no Again, it wasn't my own house,
so I had to ad live like sort of. And
so Jerry and I were talking basketball, and again I
was showing the drills. Remember at that time we used
to practice at at i think for a second, at Westminster,
So we couldn't get into the gym. So we stand
at the Marriot right over here, the old school Marriot,

(18:09):
right here in the lobby. That's where we met.

Speaker 3 (18:11):
Wow.

Speaker 6 (18:12):
So this is again, this is it's almost like it's
hard to imagine with this generation of twenty twenty five,
we're sitting in the lobby and we're doing quote, a
coaching clinic.

Speaker 3 (18:23):
We're doing a little coaching clinic in the lobby.

Speaker 5 (18:25):
People checking into that rooms like, yes, going right now.

Speaker 6 (18:29):
That's exactly and they did, absolutely did. Remember again, it's
hard to be there's no camera phones, right, there's no
cell phone, and it's hard to imagine.

Speaker 5 (18:41):
Okay, this is I'm so excited that we have this
opportunity to discuss the legacy of Frank Laydon with Gordon
Sheier is a man who knew him so well, man
who was hired by Frank Layton to be part of
the glory days of the Utah Jazz. We'll take a
break here, James, let's double this up.

Speaker 3 (18:58):
Gordion.

Speaker 5 (18:58):
I want to pick your brain about one thing, because
Frank had that charisma, the natural way with people. I
don't know if that's a coachable thing. I don't know
if that's something he that was just in him or
he learned that. But I want to know where Frank
learned his basketball. I want to know, like what made
Frank Frank from a basketball mind standpoint. And you're the
right person to ask, so we'll do that after the break.

(19:20):
Sean O'Connell Gordy chays in studio with us ESPN seven
hundred ninety two one FM, proud part of Utahs ESPN
Radio Network.

Speaker 2 (19:31):
You attuned to the Sean O'Connell's Show from the Murdoch
Chevrolet Studio of ESPN seven hundred and ninem.

Speaker 5 (19:44):
Welcome back to the Sean O'Connell Show on ESPN seven
hundred ninety two one FM. We've got Collective Soul coming
to the Utah First Credit Union Amphitheater July thirteenth, giving
away affair tickets Today in topical trivia at a about
one and uh, we'll give away a bonus pair. We'll

(20:04):
give away a bonus pair at the end. At the
end of our time with Gordi Chez and we'll give
away a bonus pair. Gordia is here in studio with us,
very happy to have him as we do our best
to honor the legacy of Frank Layden. By the way,
all the articles written by the local outlets so far
have been really fantastic, with a ton of stuff that's

(20:25):
gonna make you smile. The anecdotes about Frank, you know,
leaving a Laker game because he wanted to get a
hot dog and he was fed up with I mean,
just so many great things. And you know, Frank was
a great basketball mind and is obviously a great coach
and administrator. His way with people is I think what's
going to be remembered most? And I know that was

(20:47):
important to your relationship with him, And it sounds like
helped in the hiring process that you went through with Frank.
Where where did that come from with Frank Layton? Was
that just inborn.

Speaker 6 (20:57):
Street smart Brooklyn And think about you live in a
big city. There's such a diversity of population around you
on the street and you're you're in a big apartment building.
I say this all the time. Life looks differently when
looking at from a fire escape from the fourth floor,
looking down at a big apartment building. You have to

(21:17):
be able to understand different ethnic groups, etc. And that
was Frank Layden absolutely mastered the art form and by
growing up in Brooklyn, like any people living in big cities,
they're able to navigate and be more tolerant of people
in a positive way. So he took that to the
sports world, where he saw people for what they are

(21:38):
and he's able to connectivity with all sorts of people
that have it. This next part about that he was
a smart basketball mind. You mentioned before of the about
how did frank leyden learn basketball? Well, Frank played at
Nagara University and his college coaches guy named John Taps
Gallagher who was a tremendous coach of that ear back

(21:59):
in the nineteen forties and fifties. And Frank's teammate was
jub Brown and the other teammate was a guy named
Larry Costello is in the Hall of Fame who later
on coaches seventy six ers, uh and was a was
a tremendous player both in college and the pros. So
frank background was from New York City playing basketball and

(22:21):
then with Tops Gallagher's coach, and then it became a
high school coach in Long Island. As a matter of fact,
you want to look show on Frank Layton coached Billy
Donovan's father and high school at San Naegnos Rockville Center.
Billy Donovan who's now the head coach of Chicago Bulls,

(22:42):
who I coached at Providence. Billy used to Billy the kid.
Frank coached his dad in high school so then Frank
later on was the head coach at a university where
he coached Hall of Famer Calvin Murphy. Calvin Murphy was
five foot none, became a became a Hall of Form,

(23:03):
Hall of Famed player. And how they got him to
go to Niagara. Now, Frank, Frank was ready there. Frank
was not there yet. We recruited Calvin Murphy. The previous
coach did. But Calvin Murphy sewing was a world class
baton twirler, baton twirler, and so they part of the
recruiting process out of Nowak, Connecticut for Calvin Murphy five

(23:27):
to nine NBA Hall of Famer was that they got
him a job to be the baton twirler of the
Buffalo Bills Buffalo Sewan, the Buffalo Bills, you're laughing, the
Buffalo Bills home games. So the marching band would come out,
you know, in the middle of the snow country and
and there, and Calvin Murphy would be twirling's baton up

(23:51):
in the air.

Speaker 1 (23:51):
Go to YouTube and see him do it. And that's
just it.

Speaker 6 (23:54):
And that's a dexterity, the dexterity of of playing a sport.
That's Calvin Murphy Frank coached him one time a thousand
years ago. I sold Calvin Murviy score fifty points live
in a college game against my beloved Saint Peter's College.

Speaker 5 (24:12):
The context of the basketball environment that Frank Laiden and
even you know your time with with Jerry and Phil like,
everything has changed so drastically and so rapidly. And he
throughout some of the numbers we were talking about. Dominique
Wilkins gets the rights of Dominique Wilkins gets sold for

(24:34):
a million dollars to keep the lights on effectively. And
Devin Booker just got a one hundred and fifty million
dollars one hundred and forty five million dollar extension for.

Speaker 3 (24:43):
Two years of work.

Speaker 5 (24:46):
Seventy two and a half per year on that one,
which is the highest average annual value of any contract
extension in NBA history. And by the way, the next
guy who's up, the next dollar star who's up, will
be even bigger money. Because that's how this thing goes, uh,
the crazy thing. As you look back at the history
of the Utah Jazz and Frank's involved in Frank Layden,

(25:06):
who passed yesterday at age ninety three. For those just
tuning in and we're talking about with Gordy size.

Speaker 3 (25:12):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (25:14):
He was basketball coach of the Utah Jazz in an
environment where the Miller family had not yet bought the team.
They were playing at a poorly suited arena in the
Salt Palace, and he was hustling tickets as the head
coach of the organization. I mean, what a different world
to today's NBA.

Speaker 1 (25:35):
Oh very much.

Speaker 2 (25:35):
So.

Speaker 6 (25:36):
He's one of a great classic alliance from Frank Layden.
He'd be on the street talking to Sean O'Connor and
Sean said, Hey, I'm a basketball fan, and hey, I
like basketball. So then Frank says, thanks Sean. Uh So,
Sean says, Sean says to Frank, when's the next game?
And when's the next game? Oh, it's Friday night? And
what times this start? What time can you get there, Sean,

(25:59):
what time can you get there? Well, wait for you
to start the game. Yeah, And so I'm making light
of it, but that was the context of a Frank
of trying to make this work. And again in Fantasy
there it was Frank. And also Dave Checkers was absolutely
involved in this. Also, No, Larry Miller and Gail Miller,

(26:21):
they had the heavy lifting. They saw enough for potential
in Salt Lake City, where Larry leveraged everything you talking
about everything to make this thing work. And so he
bought the majority of the team back in eighty five
from Sam Battistone, who moved the team from New Orleans
and a guy named Larry Hatfield, and then Larry took
it over and then the rest is history. I remember

(26:42):
the day Larry Miller said to me at the Salt Palace. Hey, Gordy,
I got to build a new arena. I'm losing money
playing in the Salt Palace. There's so much ticket demand.
John and Call entering their prime. I've got to build
a new building. Thus the Delta Center. Yeah, and it's
called the Delta Center again full circle. Well, what did
Frank think of modern NBA. I mean, obviously, this last

(27:06):
year it sounds like things had gone south health wise,
and I'm sure he had a harder time paying attention
to it.

Speaker 3 (27:11):
But it was not so long ago.

Speaker 5 (27:13):
He was here in our Broadway studios and he was,
you know, sharp as attack, and I'm sure still had
his opinions about the modern NBA. I didn't get a
chance to talk to him about those things. But what
did Frank think of how far the game has come
from those days when he was when he was hawking
tickets effectively.

Speaker 6 (27:30):
Well, the big thing with people of yesteryear was the
three point shooting, where everyone, all the coaches that era
and the players dead they believed in primitive shooting. But
the hardest problem for coaches of that era would be
to understand that the three point shot is absolutely hit
or stay and that we tugged with you and I

(27:53):
and James down the air. Hey, we believe in three
point shooting, but just the reculcy cast a three point
shot because I feel like and that's when it really
is that not really advantageous to a team. So Frank
always talked about the three point shooting, how we didn't
understand how players that couldn't make shots we keep casting them.
And that's a valid point. It actually is a valid point,

(28:15):
the ability to make shots because you are really a
knockdown shooter. Obviously, Stephen Curry was the ultimate that as
far as bringing to a bringing it to an art form.

Speaker 5 (28:26):
Gordon Jess is with us for another twenty minutes or
so here on the Sean O'Connell show. We're talking about
Frank Layden one of the real foundational pieces of what
the Utah Jazz have become in this community and in
the NBA.

Speaker 1 (28:40):
Go Ahead, Gordia sure, also.

Speaker 6 (28:43):
Your age group and James James eighty group and many
people that they always tell me that that they first
found about Frank Leyden, not when Frank was a coach,
was through the Bloopers video. That was the first time
that they everyone saw. Like so look, just for the
discussion right now, anybody around ages like say right now

(29:04):
presently around age thirty three to age showing forty remembers
Frank in like the early nineties when he he was
no longer coaching, but with the mauv Albert doing the
Blooper takes, etc. That's the first people remember about Frank Lane.
Didn't realize he was such a tremendous coach and also

(29:26):
very very astute county evaluator.

Speaker 5 (29:29):
We moved to Sandy from I was born in Minnesota.
We moved here my dad's job moved us here when
I was nine years old, so going into third grade.
And I've told the story before. How you know basketball
wasn't a thing in Minnesota. It was all hockey and baseball,
and you know, we came out. My parents bought us
the Utah Jazz gear and I was like, what are
the Utah Jazz. But Frank was one of the guys

(29:52):
that you would see on the broadcast at on the
commercials around basketball games doing whatever, and he had obviously
that really look. So Frank was one of the first
personalities that I became aware of as a kid that
was associated with the Utah Jazz, even though he wasn't
coaching at that point, he was just you know, he
was already a legend in the early nineties, and uh yeah,

(30:14):
that's uh, that was the context I first saw. I
first connected to Frank Layton and the Utah Jazz Jock Jimps.

Speaker 6 (30:23):
That was amazing thing at the video. Again, it's hard
to believe again with digital right now, but remember the
days of the cassettes, Sean Deeve, remember Nomeadow's prehistoric times.

Speaker 1 (30:35):
My mom just prehistoric.

Speaker 5 (30:36):
My mom's out here visiting and she she just brought
my old high school football highlight tapes. They're on cassettes. Sure,
that's from that's from two thousand and one. My last
season was the two thousand and one We were just
it was still tape. No one had iPads and stuff
like that. Got I gotta find a VCR so I
can watch my old tape digitize that stuff.

Speaker 6 (30:59):
Sure, And that's that just shows you the evolution of
technology now more important this generation. You have to understand
it to be to gain advantage of it. Now, there's
never too much technology, but it's how you interpret it's showing.
So technology is absolutely great, AI is absolutely tremendous, But

(31:20):
it's how you interpret everything. Oh, by the way, in
any sport, in football, if I'm wrong correctly showing, when
you block and tackle and and and uh and and
have have ball security, chances of winning are much greater.
In basketball, if the ball moves, the scoreboard moves. If
the ball sticks, the scoreboard sticks. Pretty simple every generation,

(31:44):
but it gets cloudy shown and the interpretation.

Speaker 5 (31:49):
I want to talk some summer league basketball with you,
but I don't want to move off of the frank
laden stuff. If you have anything else to say, if
there's a story you want to share, if there's just
I want to give you the space. Gordy, this is
a dear friend of yours. I'm sure a mentor in
some ways, and somebody that I want to do our
best to do justice to what he means to the

(32:10):
community in the Utah Jazz for the time we have
on the show.

Speaker 3 (32:13):
So before we talk Summer.

Speaker 6 (32:15):
League, well, Frank's active kindness that Frank never really truly
never turned out a chance to help people as far
as in need, and so many many times he would
do charity work was incredible, way beyond the call of duty.
And he did it very similar Romicbride. So Ramic Bride

(32:36):
and Franklin or or are from the same cloth in
a positive way where they they embrace the community and
the computer the community embraces them. And that's the thing
about Frank is active kindness and that makes it so
different than many people of the bottom line of just
alonely do it if there's a compensation, sure, and that's

(32:59):
make said so interesting and more importantly so beautiful. And
that was Frank Laydon and also his a trusted partner
for life, Barbara Laydon. They were absolutely they were together
and locks down again very similar to uh to Vicky McBride.
We all love and know, you know, God bless the
putting up by Ron Odle is you know, as an understatement,

(33:20):
if you can get my drift, Sean, I know you
do Vicky McBride's right to heaven.

Speaker 3 (33:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (33:25):
Uh, I mean since you brought up coach McBride, he's
going into the Utah Ring of Honor. Yeah, so that
I love that because you know, I like the idea
of you let people know how you feel about them,
how much they mean to you while they're around.

Speaker 3 (33:40):
Uh did Frank feel that from the community? Did ever?
Did Frank and family know how much he means to
Salt Lake City? Yeah?

Speaker 6 (33:47):
Very much, Absolutely, very much. He knew that that they
they embraced him, and likewise he embraced them.

Speaker 1 (33:53):
Just think about it.

Speaker 6 (33:54):
He did this, uh this Uh New Yorker came to
Salt Lake City and was able to make Utah into
as an ambassador. He became the ambassador of Utah really
for the NBA. And you know Frank also was It
was a great actor that you know back in the
early nineties, Frank there was his play I want to

(34:15):
say at Pioneer Theater showing because I was there, we
got invited all the jazz people. Frank Laydon did a
play with his wife called Love Letters, and you thought
Frank was was a world class theatrical performer and Barbara
also So Love Letters was his play that Frank Layden
and Barbara Layden did and it was absolutely special and

(34:38):
you again it was We're privy to it. I believe
it was at the Pioneer Theater. I think it was.
I remember right back in the early nineties, and that
showed Frank his acting chops.

Speaker 5 (34:50):
Frank has an IMDb page Internet movie database which has
the you know, it's a full archive of every movie
of reacting roles. Frank Layton has an IMBB this January fifth,
January nineteen thirty two, Brooklyn, New York. Him married the
former Barbara Barbara Campbell.

Speaker 3 (35:12):
He's got an IMDb page.

Speaker 5 (35:13):
He was in No More Baths, The Huntress, the Children's
Miracle Network telethon ESPN Sports Century.

Speaker 3 (35:21):
I mean, he's kind of a I love that. It's fantastic.

Speaker 6 (35:24):
Now, remember when when Frank was recording Barbara, Frank again
drove from Fort Dix to meet to meet his his
girlfriend at that time, Frank Laydon, and she was she
worked for the twenty one Club, which was his nightclub,
as an accountant. And so Frank pulled up in his
gelope that was falling apart in front of the building

(35:45):
of this exclusive swinky like you know this it would
be like a discotheque. Now at that time it was
like a supper club.

Speaker 1 (35:52):
They caught all right.

Speaker 6 (35:53):
So so Frank pulled up in his Gilope and he
parked the car like about half a block of but
it was still in sight of the of the the
people that were parking the cars, and someone said, who's
that awful car? Different language parked down the street, and
Bob Laydon said, oh, that's my boyfriend.

Speaker 3 (36:12):
Wow.

Speaker 6 (36:14):
So Frank's carr would say, was was the talk of
the of the people there, the valley parking people.

Speaker 5 (36:20):
Tell that just means he had an incredible game. Because
if you could impress the lady, well you've got the
worst car, you know.

Speaker 3 (36:26):
That's good for Frank.

Speaker 5 (36:27):
All right, let's talk a little Summer League best Absolutely,
let's go, uh who impressed you most?

Speaker 6 (36:33):
For the Jets point of view, it would be Kyle
Philipowski played well here in Salt Lake City, and also
Bryce sense the ball. Bryce made a lot of shots,
he played under control, moved the ball, and Philipowski was
just generally speaking all around versatile, making plays, reboundcing traffic,
dunking on people's noggins in transition, and just he made

(36:56):
his teammates better. The other other players that stood out
from other teams just low here would be JJ Jackson
of the Grizzlies, who's a major young talent. He played
exceptionally well. AJ Mitchell of the Thunder and Judith Mints
of the Delaware Delaware Delaware g League team who for Philadelphia.

(37:16):
So those are the five guys that when I was
at all the games, those guys stood out. Ace Belly
only played played two games. The first game was a
little bit of a struggle. The second game he was
absolutely sensational. So now to just go to Salt Lake
couldub me just go to Las Vegas after being here
in Salt Lake City. They played tomorrow night against the

(37:36):
Charlotte Hornets, which is it's on ESPN a father five
o'clock start locally here, So that's where a spelly the
fifth pick will go. We'll duel against the fourth pick.
Conkainipple of of of the formerly of Duke and now
the Hornets.

Speaker 5 (37:52):
Vj Edgecomb seems to be making a big splash in
summer league play.

Speaker 1 (37:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (37:57):
Absolutely, Yeah, he's a point guard that played very well
also in that group right now, and he's got talent.
Now Tonight's game, she Manchrudge is shown because now Sean
Cooper Flag is playing against Ronnie James tonight. Oh and
that is the hottest ticket in Vegas. So the sit

(38:17):
courtside at the Thomas mc Arena. This is crazy. The
average the court side the seats are three thousand and
seventy three dollars for a summer league game. For a
summer league game, what are we doing for tonight? And
the average price for the get for tonight's doubleheader is
two hundred twenty three dollars. And the cheapest ticket in

(38:37):
town for the games tonight, the double headed tonight is
eighty five dollars now. Victor Wenbiember two years ago, back
in twenty twenty three, what he played his debut game,
the ticket price was too ninety seven.

Speaker 3 (38:52):
So and I'm gonna take a price with the average
ticket price.

Speaker 1 (38:54):
Average ok to ninety seven.

Speaker 6 (38:57):
So tonight sitting courtside all these heavy hitters three thousand
and seventy three dollars now, Cooper Flagg the first pick
of the draft. We love his game, Bronnie James. Just
for a context, I know he's going to get better,
so be preface saying this, But Bronnie James last year
for the Lakers, he averaged two point three points per game,

(39:20):
He shot from the field thirty one point three from
three point range twenty eight point one, and he averaged
only six point seven minutes in twenty seven games.

Speaker 3 (39:32):
But the hype is on what do you think the
second year looks like for Bronni.

Speaker 6 (39:38):
He'll he'll play slightly more, but the fact that the
matters that he still got it dramatically improved. Okay, so
he'll play better, but because the first year was overwhelmed physically,
and most guys are what had jumped from college basketball
either year or two to get into the NBA where
you're nineteen years old and you're playing against people that

(39:58):
are twenty nine that are trying to hurt you.

Speaker 5 (40:02):
Cooper Flag, I mean, it seems ticket sales or ticket
prices aside, everybody's really intrigued to see what he ends
up growing into in the NBA. But it's also interesting
to me because there doesn't seem to be a lot
of room for people to say, hey, there might be
some struggles here.

Speaker 3 (40:20):
It's going to take some time. Is he ready made prospect?

Speaker 5 (40:23):
Is he immediately going to make a big like I'm
an everyday starter, all star caliber kind of guy.

Speaker 3 (40:31):
That seems to be where the expectations are.

Speaker 6 (40:34):
And they should be because he's going to be an
All Star very shortly. He's got a tremendous all around game.
He knows how to play the game, and he is
highly skilled, and he is both both sides of the ball.
He competes. He'll try to dunk on your head. He'll
make this mid range jump shot. He's a thirty eight

(40:56):
percent three point shooter. Defensively, he's a lot wire. He's
the closest thing that I've seen to Andre Carolinko, who
used to get five blocks in some games and five steals.
And so this guy is. He is a tremendous talent
that plays both sides of the ball, and he has

(41:17):
the advantage now going to Dallas, where with other good teammates.
I know Kyrie Irvings will play until middle of January.
Anthony Davis has had surgery recently on his eye. But
when those guys come back, they'll come back and play.
He'd be right there with them. Dallas got a great
get in Cooper Flagg.

Speaker 5 (41:35):
Okay, circling back to the Utah jazz, you know, the
Salt Lake City little pod of competition. You can get
a little bit a little home court, even though some
of these guys is not yet fully home. What do
you need to see them do in Vegas to show
that you know, the growth is happening at the rate
that it should when you're just now getting your feet

(41:56):
wet in the NBA.

Speaker 6 (41:57):
Well, here's the second year player. So Cody Williams some
good moments in the here in Salt Lake City, but
all the people want to see, including more pointly the
jazz of hierarchy. They want to see him be more
consistent and that's on both sides of the ball, and
also his overall shooting that he's got to be able
to make that open corner three, and also when he's

(42:18):
being contested at the AUC three, which is twenty three
feet twenty ft three nine inches, him being shoot a
higher percentage and defensively show a level of more physicality
yet without being overly fouling. So that's the first guy
that they're they're looking at as far as him getting better.

Speaker 1 (42:34):
Now.

Speaker 6 (42:35):
Isaiah Kallier also again making open shots is would be
a factor for him that he's strong physically, can you
can you use your body advantageously to be able to
guard the dribbler And also when it's a mismatch as
far as defensively, can you take him moment with your
chest with and also with your arms without again overly fallon.

(42:55):
So there's two guys who be the things and would
be able the guys to play. And also remember now
Tell Hendricks isn't here, So back to back years, Tella
Hendricks has not played in Summer League. Last year it
was a hamstring poll didn't play, and this year he's
still recoming from the injury that he had after the
third game. So we've not seen Tella Hendrix. So a
lot of times sewan in the NBA like old sports,

(43:17):
when you're when you're not playing, it's almost like out
of sight, out of mind. So I want to make
a recognition of that that Tela Hendricks hopefully will be
able to go as far as training camp which starts
late September, because he's a good young talent and now
he's in compete against uh Ace Belly, they get playing time.

Speaker 5 (43:36):
Uh the last time we talked that the Jazz had
just completed the John Collins trade, and you know, they're
offloading the veteran talents and they're offloading the guys that
helped them get a couple extra wins last year.

Speaker 3 (43:48):
Are they done with the personnel moves for now?

Speaker 6 (43:51):
No, No, there'll be another flurry, we'll say, in the
next week or so. And then Sean from the Calendis standpoint,
a lot of guys that the Jazz are looking at
might be possibly waved. So the next thing will be
some of these contracts where they're guaranteed money if you're
not waived after July thirty thirtieth, So the first week

(44:16):
of August is almost like that imaginary deadline where players
get waved and teams like the Jazz could be bargain hunting.
They add one or two more players, we'll say, a
mid tier veterans that would help their team to be competitive.
Competitive right now, now showing right now, the Jazz have

(44:39):
a bunch of young guys and they're gonna play it
and they're gonna eventually keep growing as a unit. But
they could add some players that could help them as
far as just be competitive. What's crazy about it?

Speaker 1 (44:52):
Right now?

Speaker 6 (44:53):
The only guy left of a three years ago is
Larry Marketing on the roster. The only one left is
Larry Marking, in which we know is that he's a
tremendous player. And so the Jazz if they want to
try to again remain competitive within the framework of them
looking for the future, they probably added one to two

(45:13):
more players. They might cut some at some the Jazz
might Me's correct. The Jazz have sixteen players on the
contract right now, sixteenth a right, so some of those
guys could be waived and they would count against your
salary cap or so. Example, So like Jayden Springer right now,
he'd be a guy that possibly out there. Steve Ahiluk

(45:36):
could be out there as far as what they do
right now, and what they do with John Tanjay as
far as he's the second round pick at fifty three,
they deciding to be a two way player or that
they will move on from him. These are all things
that the Jazz were going to keep evaluating during summer
League with their own team, but also other players that
always are available, so that last week of July early

(45:58):
August would be the second wave of possibly signings.

Speaker 3 (46:04):
Do you have a list today, Gordon, Yes, my list.

Speaker 6 (46:05):
Today is a Baker's dozen of the all time best
ever foreign born NBA players. Foreign born, which means, so
before I say any list, Yes, Tim Duncan was born
in Virgin Islands, but I wouldn't say he's foreign born.
And Patrick Ewing was born in Jamaica, but I wouldn't

(46:27):
say he's foreign born. So me preface thats when you
start yelling in your car.

Speaker 1 (46:31):
What about?

Speaker 3 (46:32):
What about?

Speaker 6 (46:32):
What about Tim Duncan? What about Patrick Ewing? At number thirteen,
the Kevin Mtumbo Hall of Famer, Republic of Congo, number twelve,
all time foreign born player in the NBA. Yao Ming,
China Hall of Famer number eleven as we speak right now,
but could certainly move up in this list. He's the
MVP of the Finals this year, MVP of the League.

(46:55):
Shake Jillis Alexander a future Hall of Famer from Canada,
number two, ten. Joel Embiid, future Hall of Famer from Cameroon,
number nine from the San Antonio Spurgs. This guy was
absolutely great from Argentina. Mano Genobli Hall of Famer, number eight,
All time best foreign born player, Palcar Soul Hall of

(47:17):
Famer from Spain. Number seven Tony Parker Hall of Famer
from France. Number six. Hall of Famer. He was born
in Johannesburg, South Africa, but he lived his whole life
in Canada. Steve Nash Hall of Famer, Number five, All
time Hall of Famer. Dirk de Witzki of Germany. Number four.

(47:40):
He plays now for the La Lakers. He's from Slovenia.
Future Hall of Famer Luca Dantege number three. He was
born in Nigeria. He moved to Greece. Future Hall of
Famer Giannis ad Alkampubo number two. Haquem alajahwon Hall of
Famer from Nigeria and the number m one foreign player

(48:01):
of all time in the history of the NBA. We
love him. He's from Serbia. He plays for the Denver Nuggets.
Nikolai Jokic, now quickly, what about someday, Victor Wenbiyamba, I
agree with you. How about Utah Jazz Best Foreign board
Players Number five? Joe Ingles the Aussie with a swag

(48:24):
from Australia. Number four. Andre Carolinko. He played like a
Russian comet in the Galaxy from Mother Russia. Number three.
He plays for the Jazz right now, knockdown shooter. We
love this guy from Finland, Larry Marketing, number two all
time knockdown shooter from Turkey, Memeo Corp. And the number

(48:44):
one player from jazz basketball history. A farn Broll player
is Rudy Gobert from France. Lastly, there's one player that
we should mention that was a foreign born player that
one of the best players of all time from a
different country than USA. He never played in the NBA
by design. The best ever feign born player who never

(49:08):
played the NBA was Brazilian Oscar Schmidt, a six to
eight world class shop shooter. He's the leading scorer Olympic
basketball history. He's in the Hall of Famer. He never
decided to come to the NBA. Thus, Sean, that's my
list of today of the best foreign born players.

Speaker 3 (49:26):
I was thinking of as you were reading that list.

Speaker 5 (49:29):
I was trying to identify, like the oldest guy on
the list, as someone who was not necessarily a product
of the post Dream Team basketball influx. Hakim Olajuan was
too close to being a contemporary to that dream team, right,
He's not a result of.

Speaker 3 (49:47):
The Dream team.

Speaker 1 (49:48):
No, he's not. No, he's in the eighties.

Speaker 3 (49:52):
Dirk wasn't was Ther too old to be a product
of the Dream Team.

Speaker 5 (49:56):
Yes, but a lot of those guys, the majority of
the guys on that list, are heavily influenced by that
nineteen ninety two Olympics.

Speaker 1 (50:04):
That's exactly right.

Speaker 6 (50:05):
That was the first time ever for the young listeners
right now in the ESPN Radio seven hundred, that's where
the NBA brought for the first time ever. They are
professional players that played in Olympic competition. And so that
was the beginning of really basically a global sport for
the NBA. And that was David Stern. That was his

(50:26):
goal to grow the game globally. And now there's so
many great foreign players that are in the NBA and
even even better than that future ones.

Speaker 5 (50:35):
Gordy can't tell you how much I appreciate you coming
in on a day like this, sharing those thoughts and
memories with Frank Laden really really special.

Speaker 1 (50:43):
Thanks Sean, peace out, thank you.

Speaker 3 (50:45):
That's Gordy Chiza, our resident NBA guru.