Utah Jazz

The Utah Jazz is an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Since 1991, the team has played its home games at Vivint Smart Home Arena, located in Salt Lake City. The franchise began play in 1974 as the New Orleans Jazz, based in New Orleans, Louisiana, and moved to Salt Lake City in 1979. The Jazz is currently one of two franchises from the major North American professional sports leagues to be based in the state of Utah, along with Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer.

The Jazz were one of the least successful teams in the league in their early years. Although 10 seasons elapsed before the Jazz qualified for their first playoff appearance in 1984, they did not miss the playoffs again until 2004. During the late 1980s, John Stockton and Karl Malone arose as the franchise players for the team, and formed one of the most famed point guard–power forward duos in NBA history. Led by coach Jerry Sloan, who took over for Frank Layden in 1988, they became one of the powerhouse teams of the 1990s, culminating in two NBA Finals appearances in 1997 and 1998, where they lost both times to the Chicago Bulls, led by Michael Jordan.

Gordon Hayward

Gordon Daniel Hayward (born March 23, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball at Butler University for two seasons where he led his team to a runner-up finish in the 2010 NCAA Tournament his sophomore season. He was selected by the Utah Jazz with the ninth overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft.

Early years and high school

Hayward attended Brownsburg High School in Brownsburg, Indiana. In his senior year (2007–08), Hayward was named first team All-State and led Brownsburg to the Indiana Class 4A state championship. In the 4A state title game, Hayward hit the game-winning layup at the buzzer to defeat Marion High School 40–39. Hayward averaged 18.0 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game as a senior.

Hayward's unusual skill set—Pat Forde, then of ESPN.com, called him "The guy who learned how to play like a guard but now has the size of a power forward"—was largely the result of his father's misconception about his future growth.

Utah

Utah (/ˈjuːtɔː/ or ⁱ/ˈjuːtɑː/; Navajo: Áshįįh bi Tó Hahoodzo; Arapaho: Wo'tééneihí ) is a state in the western United States. It became the 45th state admitted to the Union on January 4, 1896. Utah is the 13th-largest, the 31st-most populous, and the 10th-least-densely populated of the 50 United States. Utah has a population of nearly 3 million (Census estimate for July 1, 2015), approximately 80% of whom live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. Utah is bordered by Colorado to the east, Wyoming to the northeast, Idaho to the north, Arizona to the south, and Nevada to the west. It also touches a corner of New Mexico in the southeast.

Approximately 62% of Utahns are reported to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or LDS (Mormons), which greatly influences Utah culture and daily life. The world headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is located in Utah's state capital, Salt Lake City. Utah is the most religiously homogeneous state in the United States, the only state with a Mormon majority, and the only state with a majority population belonging to a single church.

Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics (/ˈsɛltɪks/) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 and one of eight NBA teams (out of 23 total teams) to survive the league's first decade, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which they share with the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Boston Bruins. The franchise's 17 championships are the most for any NBA franchise, and account for 24.6% of all NBA championships since the league's founding in 1946. As a percentage of championships won, the Celtics are the most successful franchise to date in the major four traditional North American professional sports leagues.

The Celtics have played the Lakers a record 12 times in the Finals, including their most recent appearances in 2008 and 2010, where the Celtics have won nine meetings (but only two since 1980). Four Celtics (Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, Dave Cowens and Larry Bird) have won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award for an NBA record total of 10 MVP awards. Their mascot 'Lucky the Leprechaun' is a nod to the team's Irish heritage and to Boston's historically large Irish population.

Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated is an American sports media franchise owned by Time Inc. Its self-titled magazine has over 3 million subscribers and is read by 23 million people each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twice. Its swimsuit issue, which has been published since 1964, is now an annual publishing event that generates its own television shows, videos and calendars.

There were two magazines named Sports Illustrated before the current magazine began on August 16, 1954. In 1936, Stuart Scheftel created Sports Illustrated with a target market for the sportsman. He published the magazine from 1936–1938 on a monthly basis. The magazine was a life magazine size and focused on golf, tennis, and skiing with articles on the major sports. He then sold the name to Dell Publications, which released Sports Illustrated in 1949 and this version lasted 6 issues before closing. Dell's version focused on major sports (baseball, basketball, boxing) and competed on magazine racks against Sport and other monthly sports magazines. During the 1940s these magazines were monthly and they did not cover the current events because of the production schedules. There was no large-base general weekly sports magazine with a national following on actual active events. It was then that Time patriarch Henry Luce began considering whether his company should attempt to fill that gap. At the time, many believed sports was beneath the attention of serious journalism and did not think sports news could fill a weekly magazine, especially during the winter. A number of advisers to Luce, including Life magazine's Ernest Havemann, tried to kill the idea, but Luce, who was not a sports fan, decided the time was right.