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SALT LAKE CITY — The Jazz officially have been slotted to pick with the 14th pick in this year's draft. Now is the time to break down the best and worst that 14 has to offer.
Who wore 14 best? What was the best 14 in each draft? Random players who donned 14 as a cameo appearance will also show up on the list.
Best 14 for the Jazz:
First and foremost the most famous Jazz player to wear the No. 14 is clearly Jeff Hornacek. He is now an assistant coach, who might eventually jump ship to coach elsewhere with a number of head coaching vacancies.
The sharp shooting guard was the missing piece for the Jazz to make a playoff push. While Stockton and Malone headlined the team, Hornacek was the shooter that kept teams at least a little honest while having to defend the pick and roll.
He was a tenacious defender, which he never seems to get credit for, who went toe-to-toe with Michael Jordan in the Finals along with Bryon Russell. Small fun fact, he is top-50 in career assists and steals along with 3-point shooting and free throw percentage.
He might be most known for his uncanny ability to wave to his children and hit a free throw almost at the same time. In the 1999 season he shot 95 percent from the line in 77 games played. He missed nine free throws in 180 games.
Random No. 14 facts for the Jazz:
The No. 14 was worn for almost every year starting in 1980 for the Jazz until Hornacek retired. Rickey Green wore it from '81 to '88, Nate Johnston wore it in a total of six game in the '90 and Eric Murdock wore it in '92. Hornacek wore it from '94 to the turn of the century.
Jazz No. 14 cameos:
Jerry Sloan is best known as the coach of the Jazz and the defensive dynamo in his playing days with Chicago, but did you know he wore No. 14 for one year in the NBA with the Baltimore Bullets. In Chicago he wore No. 4.
Current Jazz power forward Derrick Favors wore No. 14 in his short time with the Nets. He then had to switch to his current 15 when he switched the Jazz.
Best 14 in NBA history:
Can you name one off the top of your head? Other than Hornacek the number doesn't come to mind right away. If you can think of one it is probably one of two players. Those would be either Bob Cousy or Oscar Robertson.
This might be one of the most difficult numbers to choose from in the NBA. Partially they are really close and the other is that they are both really good and choosing seems near sacrilege.
However, never being one to take the easy way out the winner is "Big O" Oscar Robertson. The dude averaged 30.8 points, 11.4 assist and 12.5 rebounds for a whole season in 1961-62. He finished his career with an average of 25.7 points, 9.5 assists and 7.5 rebounds. That would be a good season for LeBron James and he did over his entire career.
Cousy has more championships with six while playing with Bill Russell, so he was never the man like Robertson was. Robertson just won one in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's second year in Milwaukee. He finished his career third in minutes per game with 42 per game behind only Russell and Wilt Chamberlain.
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Feel free to make the argument that Cousy should be the pick. Cousy was the pick for a little bit, unfortunately the numbers that Robertson put up are just unreal.
Best 14's in other sports:
The number 14 isn't quite the powerhouse number that a low number should be, good high end, but not a lot of depth. There are a few great ones. It's a good number in the NBA, as shown above. It has a checkered star in baseball, a great quarterback in football and a really good hockey player.
The baseball player is the "Hit King" Pete Rose. The man holds the record for most hits, games played and at-bats, but isn't in Cooperstown because of his betting allegations. He is one of the greatest players to play the game, but whether he is known more for his game or the scandal is debatable. But not a bad one to start with.
The football player might be more well known for his broadcast career than his football career. Dan Fouts led the San Diego Chargers with Air Coryell attack to a Hall of Fame career. He never lead the team to a Super Bowl, but always kept the Chargers in the hunt. He was a six-time Pro Bowl selection, a three-time All-Pro and a member of the 1980s All-Decade team. He was a broadcaster, but mostly remember for his role in the "Waterboy" where he taught the world it's the last game of the season, can't hold anything back.
In the NHL the best is probably Brendan Shanahan. The wing won three championships with the Red Wings during the turn of the century. He finished with 1,354 points in his career and played for nearly 20 years.
Top draft picks at No. 14:
The 14th pick isn't ideal. In any sport there are a lot of busts. In the NBA the best draft pick is Clyde "The Glide" Drexler by Portland in 1989. One of the cornerstones of "Phi Slama Jama" in Houston he left for the NBA as a Junior and went 14th to the Blazers.
He was a member of "The Dream Team" and went on to win two NBA championships with the Rockets while Michael Jordan retired. He is in the Hall of Fame and one of the leading dunkers of all time. After Drexler the talent drops a little, then falls off a cliff after about five or six players.
In the NFL the pick at no. 14 is pretty simple, Jim Kelly. He was drafted in the year of the quarterback with John Elway and Dan Marino on either end of the first round in 1983. He ran the K-Gun offense that was the hurry-up under Marv Levy that lead the Bills to four straight losing Super Bowls. The Hall of Fame player put up some gaudy numbers in Buffalo. The runner-up would be Darrelle Revis who is the best corner back in the league right now, but doesn't have the career yet to take over the top spot.
Rick Middleton was drafted 14th by the Rangers in hockey in 1976. He ended up scoring over 400 goals in his career. In MLB the list is really short. No one drafted there is in the Hall of Fame, but there are some current players with talent. Jeff Weaver, Jason Heyward and Jason Varitek were picked with the 14th spot.
Random 14th picksThis year Star Lotulelei was picked 14th by the Panthers this year. John Tait from BYU was picked 14th by Kansas City in 1999 in the NFL. Utah State's Shaler Halimon was picked 14th by the 76ers in 1968.
The Jazz have had the 14th pick twice before. The first they drafted Kris Humphries and the second they picked Ronnie Brewer.
