The legend of Diante Garrett

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz needed nine games to get their first victory Wednesday night with a 111-105 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, but with a little help from a man who was buying groceries at Wal-Mart the day before they pulled it off.

Diante Garrett is the name. Don’t forget it, most probably won’t.

Even if he doesn’t do anything more for the Jazz he will join Sundiata Gaines in the pantheon of the Jazz players who quickly made their marks.

Fortunately, while he was at Wal-Mart shopping, he had a free hand to answer his phone while getting some bare necessities. When the call from the Jazz came he didn’t rush out of the store, but finished his shopping experience.

“I actually paid for it. I was going to get some cereal, and some milk, and stuff for the house,” Garrett said. “I got the call and I was like ‘OK.’ I’m still going to take this home and get a nice little meal tonight.”

He got to the arena with his luggage in tow. After the game, he walked through the crowd at EnergySolutions Arena that got to meet with the player pulling two full luggage carts and a smaller bag on top.

This isn’t the first time he’s played in the NBA.

He spent time with Oklahoma City last season, but it might be hard to top his first time wearing a Jazz uniform.

The numbers weren’t big enough to reach legend status at seven points and five assists, but his time on the court will aggrandize his stature. Garrett played 21:50, even though he hadn't been in Utah for 21 hours.

“In the fourth quarter and I was looking and I was like ‘time is going down and I’m still in the game,’ so I guess I had to keep playing,” Garrett said.

He made his first shot — a 3-pointer from the top of the arc. It was actually the first 3-pointer for the Jazz on the night. The team had been historically bad this season shooting, and a made 3-pointer was a breath of life to its shooting.

Garrett definitely had some sour spots, too. He ended up with four turnovers, but the veterans on the team just told him to stick with it.

“Couldn’t happen to a nicer kid,” Richard Jefferson said. “He was amazing. I told him, I was like, ‘hey, I don’t care if you turn the ball over, I don’t care if you miss a shot, we need you. So just be aggressive, just play basketball. If you miss a shot don’t worry, don’t stress, don’t think about things. We need you.’ And he did a great job. I said that to him when we were walking out to the court midway through the fourth.”

It took that kind of effort to overshadow the play of Jefferson’s resurgence with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting; Enes Kanter’s 21-point 10-rebound night; Marvin Williams' brilliant play on both ends; Derrick Favors' 12 points, 12 rebounds and five steals, and a 27-point 10-assist night from Gordon Hayward.

“I don’t even know if he’s been in Utah for a whole 24 hours yet,” Hayward said. “The way that he played, (and) making plays down the stretch for us. That’s tough, that’s really tough. I thought he did a great job for us.”

His locker didn’t have a permanent name. Written in marker on a piece of tape was “#8 Garrett.”

He’s part of the team now. He was able to run the offense and make plays. It was fitting that at the end of the night he had the ball in his hands. Technically it squirted out into Williams’ diving hands, but legend can omit some facts.

“I’m shocked,” Kanter said. “He played really good. He came last night, and then he played today. He got physical. He played unbelievable, I appreciate him. he stepped up big time and played big.”

Is Garrett the missing piece for a Jazz championship? No, they are a long way away from that. If he can solidify the point guard position at least until the return of Trey Burke, he will have a spot in the heart of Jazz fans, at least until the milk he bought at Wal-Mart expires.

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