Jazz PA announcer still hopes for NBA title before his retirement

Jazz PA announcer still hopes for NBA title before his retirement

(Tom Smart, Deseret News, File)


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SALT LAKE CITY — Dan Roberts just wants one thing before he retires.

It’s a simple request without a simple solution.

The public address announcer for the Utah Jazz doesn’t want a statue in front of Vivint Smart Home Arena like John Stockton and Karl Malone, or the PA microphone he uses bronzed and given to him at center court during his last game.

He’d rather have something smaller and that could fit on his finger.

“I don’t mean to sound greedy but someday I’d like a (championship) ring,” Roberts said before the Jazz’s first playoff game in five years.

Roberts has seen plenty of winning and losing basketball in Salt Lake. He was the PA announcer for the ABA’s Utah Stars when they won their lone title in 1971. The team folded five years later.

He also was the announcer at the Huntsman Center for University of Utah basketball and was at the mic in the Huntsman Center when Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Larry Bird battled it out for the NCAA basketball title in 1979.

“I’m immortalized in film on that one forever,” Roberts recalled. “That’s very cool.”

And when the Jazz moved from New Orleans to Salt Lake City, Roberts' booming baritone voice beat out a few other competitors to become the team’s first and only PA guy. He recalls that first game on October 15, 1979, at the Salt Palace.

“There was maybe just shy of 8,000 people there. We got the crap beaten out of us by the Milwaukee Bucks (the Bucks won 131-107) and the Osmonds sang the anthem. That’s all I can remember.”

The Jazz were 24-58 their first season in Salt Lake City, but Roberts has seen more winning than losing seasons. And he’s not a guy who has been missing in action. Roberts estimates he’s only missed 6 total games in 37 years and all were related to illness or injury on the job.

“I tore my Achilles at a game in 2006,” Roberts said as he tried to recall the last game he missed. “I had some pain in my Achilles when I walked in the building, but I didn’t realize what was going on. (After halftime), I came back in and hopped over the top of the desk and put my food on the chair and my ankle just sank and ‘bam’ there it went.” He finished that game but had to miss one extra after surgery.

Roberts’ son, Jeremy, filled in for him and most people couldn’t tell the difference.

“I can impersonate him exactly,” Jeremy Roberts said. “That first game, I wanted it to stay the same and did it just like he would do it. And a lot of the TV crews and Jazz personnel didn’t even know he was gone. It was a great honor to do that. I have my own style, but it’s very similar to his.”

The younger Roberts has followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming an arena announcer for the Utah Grizzlies and the Jazz former D-League affiliate Utah Flash. Many have asked him if he will take over for his dad once Dan decides to put the mic down one last time. But Jeremy is not sure that’s a great idea.

“He’s an icon in the NBA because he’s been doing it the longest. Players know him, teams know him and fans know him. I kind of want that to be his legacy…I would absolutely do it if (the team) asked, but I kind of want him to go as long as he can because I love listening to him.”

Dan Roberts has no timetable of when he would like to call it quits.

“But if it gets to a spot where I can’t get my walker or my oxygen tank in, then I’ll call it then,” he said with a smile.

Roberts doesn’t use his familiar catchphrase,“How bout this Jazz?” all that often, admitting fans tastes have changed over time. But he said he’s not changing one bit.

“The league has switched in various cities to hip hop and I’m not going to do that. I’m too old to do that and it’s not part of my repertoire. I can get the crowd going by laying it out, screaming and shouting as much as I can, but I can’t be stupid.”

Roberts never believed he would get fired from being the voice of the fans in the stands when he was hired in 1979. It’s not that he’s supremely confident, but he believes he’s had help all along the way.

“The good Lord gave me some vocal chords and I’ve been able to take advantage of that,” Roberts said. “I’ve had some angels guide me through this whole thing.”

Now if those same angels could help the Jazz win a title, he would be very happy. Roberts knows the time is growing short and craves that championship ring. But would he actually get the same jewelry given to the players and coaches?

“I hope. I’d throw myself on the floor if I didn’t,” Roberts said.

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