Frank Layden, beloved Jazz head coach and GM, dead at 93
He was 93.
A cause of death was not announced.
Frank Layden, former president of the Utah Jazz, is introduced during a 20-year reunion ceremony for the team that reached the 1997 NBA Finals, at halftime of the team's game against the Knicks on March 22, 2017, in Salt Lake City.
AP
The Brooklyn native helped the Jazz style into their new home in Utah after their move from New Orleans to Salt Lake City, taking over as general manager in 1979 and later becoming head coach in 1981.
'Frank Layden made a lasting impact on the Jazz, the state of Utah, and the NBA,' the Jazz posted on X. 'There will never be another like him. Our thoughts go out to his family as we join in mourning his loss and celebrating his life. Rest easy, Coach.'
Layden began his coaching career at the collegiate level at his alma mater, Niagara University, where he coached for eight seasons and helped lead the program to an NCAA tournament appearance in 1970, the school's first.
'Frank had the unique ability to be larger than life yet able to care for those in his circle on a personal level,' Simon Gray, Niagara University's associate vice president for athletics, said in a statement. 'Although it has been 70 years since he graduated, I am confident that Niagara was on his mind at some point of every day since. He consistently checked in with his alma mater and showed his love for Monteagle Ridge in a myriad of ways. We will miss him dearly.'
He moved to the professional ranks in 1976 as an assistant coach with the Hawks before taking the GM job with the Jazz three years later.
During his time in the Jazz front office, Layden made two of the biggest picks in franchise history when he selected Karl Malone 16th overall in 1984 and John Stockton in 1985 at 13th overall.
Head coach Frank Layden of the Jazz calls a play against the
Kings on Jan. 2, 1988 at Arco Arena in Sacramento California.
NBAE via Getty Images
Malone and Stockton would go on to become the faces of basketball in Utah and were both enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame.
It turns out 1984 may have been the best year for Layden.
He led the Jazz to the playoffs — a feat the team would pull off five times during his tenure — and coached in the NBA All-Star Game before getting named the NBA Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year.
Layden went 277-294 as Jazz head coach in the regular season. In December 1988, he stepped down as head coach, while retaining the role of team president and general manager.
The move paved the way for Jerry Sloan to lead the Jazz to back-to-back NBA Finals appearances in 1997 and 1998.
Layden briefly coached the WNBA's Utah Starzz — who would later become the Las Vegas Aces — and served a short time as a consultant for the Knicks when his son, Scott Layden, was general manager.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
11 minutes ago
- USA Today
Lakers jersey history No. 1 — Jordan Farmar
Through the 2024-25 season, the Los Angeles Lakers have had a total of 506 players suit up for them, going back to their days in Minneapolis. Some were forgettable, some were serviceable, some were good and a select few were flat-out legendary. As the Lakers approach their 80th season of existence (they were founded back in 1946 as the Detroit Gems in the National Basketball League), LeBron Wire is taking a look at each player who has worn their jersey, whether it has been a purple and gold one or the ones they donned back in the Midwest during their early years. This article takes a look at a key reserve guard many Lakers fans will likely remember fondly — Jordan Farmar. Farmar is a local product who grew up in the San Fernando Valley and attended Taft High School in Woodland Hills. He spent two seasons at the University of California, Los Angeles, and he was named to the All-Pac-10 first team while helping the Bruins reach the men's NCAA championship game during the 2005-06 season. The Lakers took him late in the first round of the 2006 NBA Draft. At the time, they were badly in need of depth as they retooled around Kobe Bryant, and while Farmar struggled as a rookie, he started to make an impact in his second season. That year, he averaged 9.1 points and 2.7 assists in 20.6 minutes a game while shooting 46.1% from the field and 37.1% from 3-point range. The Lakers, buoyed by the acquisition of Hall of Fame big man Pau Gasol, reached the 2008 NBA Finals, only to lose in six games to their archrivals, the Boston Celtics. But Farmar had established himself as a key member of a bench unit that was starting to look impressive. Over the next two seasons, the 6-foot-2 point guard played a significant role in L.A. winning back-to-back world championships, including one over the Celtics. He spent the next two seasons with the New Jersey Nets and had brief stints with Maccabi Tel Aviv during the 2011 NBA lockout and Anadolu Efes in the Turkish League during the 2012-13 season before returning to the Lakers for the 2013-14 campaign. After subsequent stints with the Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies and Sacramento Kings, Farmar's NBA career ended. He finished with career averages of 7.7 points and 2.9 assists in 19.5 minutes per game.
USA Today
41 minutes ago
- USA Today
Seattle Storm guard Skylar Diggins records quickest triple-double in WNBA history
After recording the first triple-double in WNBA All-Star Game history on July 19, Seattle Storm guard Skylar Diggins made more history on Monday. She became the second player in Storm history to record a triple-double -- and she did it in three quarters. Diggins's two free throws at the end of the third quarter gave her 11 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in 22:51 of action, the lowest minute total for a triple-double in WNBA history. Temeka Johnson recorded the Storm's other triple-double with 13 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in an overtime loss to the New York Liberty in 2014. Diggins is the fourth player in the league to amass a triple-double this season. Diggins did not play in the fourth quarter as the Storm defeated the Connecticut Sun 101-85. Seattle had led by as many as 32. Diggins' triple-double the 46th in WNBA history. Alyssa Thomas has 16, the most in WNBA history. Only eight players have multiple triple-doubles in their careers.
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Can Quentin Grimes and the Sixers find a deal that works for both?
Every dollar matters for the Philadelphia 76ers, a 24-win team caught in a financial crunch. But every dollar matters for the Sixers' most important current free agent, too. Can they and Quentin Grimes meet in the middle? Grimes, a two-way shooting guard who balled out last season for the tanking 76ers after arriving in a February trade, is one of four restricted free agents who remain on the market. The Athletic recently polled 16 people in NBA front offices (including no one from Philly's), asking them what they would deem a 'fair' contract for each member of the four: Grimes, the Golden State Warriors' Jonathan Kuminga, the Chicago Bulls' Josh Giddey and the Brooklyn Nets' Cam Thomas. Advertisement Results for Kuminga and Giddey have already published. Now, it is on to Grimes, a 25-year-old who averaged an efficient 21.9 points in 28 games with the 76ers last season after a midseason trade. Most people polled for the story considered Grimes within shouting range of the midlevel exception, which is worth $14.1 million in starting salary. Twelve of the 16 proposed average annual salaries between $12 million and $16.7 million. One front-office staffer who is especially high on Grimes suggested a four-year, $75 million deal, the most total money and the highest average annual value ($18.8 million) anyone in the poll mentioned. On the other side of the spectrum was an executive who considered Grimes worth just $30 million over three years, $10 million in average annual value, the lowest number in the poll. The executive said he couldn't properly contextualize Grimes' scoring outburst at the end of last season, when the injured 76ers were losing intentionally in the hopes of keeping their first-round pick, because he 'played on a bad team.' Others who suggested salaries lower than the midlevel exception mentioned market conditions as to why Grimes, a strong on-ball defender and 3-point sniper even at his worst, may not receive a salary commensurate with his end-of-season numbers. 'The way the cap (environment) is now, why would you spend $20 million on Quentin Grimes when you can get (Bucks guard) Gary Trent (Jr.) for a minimum?' said one executive, who proposed a three-year, $40 million contract for Grimes. 'We shouldn't just sign young players because they're young. … You've got to believe Grimes is gonna develop into your starting backcourt with (Tyrese) Maxey.' The 76ers are loaded with young guards. There's Maxey, already an All-Star at age 24. There's 21-year-old Jared McCain, the rookie of the year favorite until he suffered a season-ending injury in 2024-25. Coming in this season is the No. 3 selection in this past June's NBA Draft, V.J. Edgecombe. Advertisement If the Sixers consider Grimes a starter, they can pay him like one. If they worry he could lag behind those three, then they would be more hesitant to hand him a briefcase of cash. One person in the poll suggested a two-year deal (for $24 million). Eleven people proposed three-year deals. The total money for those were $30 million, $36 million, $39 million, $40 million, $42 million, $45 million (two), $45.7 million (which is the exact worth of the midlevel exception), $48 million (two) and $50 million. Four people mentioned four-year contracts: One for $60 million, one for $64 million, one for $72 million and one for $75 million. The restricted free agency experience, rarely a fun one, is even damper than usual this summer. The little cap space that was once out there has evaporated. Meanwhile, leverage isn't easy to find for players in Grimes', Kuminga's, Giddey's and Thomas' situations. Since they are restricted free agents, their 2024-25 teams have right of first refusal, meaning if Grimes, for example, signed an offer sheet with another franchise, the Sixers could match it to bring him back for the same price. It makes rival organizations hesitant to tie up cap space with restricted free agents. Meanwhile, sign-and-trades are difficult because of a niche rule in the collective bargaining agreement called base year compensation, which makes the math in matching salaries far more complex than usual. Yet, whether he's a 20-point scorer or not, Grimes can play. By his second season, he was a starter on a New York Knicks team that won a playoff series. He drained 3-pointers and consistently guarded the opposition's best perimeter player. He's bounced around since — to the Detroit Pistons and then Dallas Mavericks and eventually to the Sixers, who let him cook after most of their top performers left the court late in the season. Advertisement As Grimes' usage climbed in Philadelphia, his above-average efficiency maintained, not normally the case when a young player ratchets up his responsibilities. He ran more pick-and-rolls, attacked the basket and controlled his squad's offense more than ever while in Philly. 'There are not many Swiss Army knife wings out there that score it as efficiently, defend, pass or rebound like he does,' said the front-office staffer who suggested the four-year, $75 million contract. 'He might not be elite at any one thing, but (he's) very good at a lot of them.' But even if the 76ers agree with that assessment, they have a problem. The cheapest salary a four-year, $75 million contract could start at is $16.7 million. As of now, Philadelphia is approximately $3 million below the luxury-tax threshold. Any Grimes contract, including if he picked up his qualifying offer of $8.7 million (which would send him back to Philly on a one-year deal and allow him to enter unrestricted free agency a year from now), would drive them past it. But this contract would blast them into the first apron and only approximately $5 million short of the second apron, which the team is hoping to avoid. The Sixers may overflow with talent but they also have the largest delta between their possibilities for the upcoming season. In a best-case scenario, a former MVP in Joel Embiid looks like himself again; a renaissance season from nine-time All-Star Paul George emerges; and a young stud in Maxey continues to improve. There is additional talent to fill in the gaps. In a worst-case one, Embiid and George, who just underwent another surgery, can't stay on the floor and the team combusts, just as it did in 2024-25, when expectations were high and results were the league's most disappointing. The Sixers finished 24-58. It will be difficult to justify such an expensive roster if they falter again this season. Advertisement For that reason, people polled about Grimes' contract concentrated on keeping him tradable. If the Sixers need to break it down, if they need to flip him for a center because Embiid misses time, maintaining him either on a short-term contract or on one with a salary below the midlevel exception could be an emphasis. 'I like Quentin Grimes. He's a very good player. I would present him with two options: You can have a three-year, $48 million deal or a four-year, $60 million,' one executive said. A three-year contract of that value would crest barely above this season's MLE, which can be used as a trade exception (meaning the Sixers could hypothetically trade Grimes into someone else's midlevel exception without having to match salaries). His 2026-27 salary would clear that season's MLE, too. But the four-year, $60 million deal could keep both seasons under it. 'You say to him, 'Do you want money or do you want longevity?'' the executive said. 'And if he says both, you say, 'We can't offer both.'' Starting-caliber players tend to make more than this. In 2025-26, 22 point guards, 28 shooting guards, 21 small forwards, 25 power forwards and 22 centers will earn more than the MLE. One participant in the poll suggested a salary barely above the midlevel, just to signal that Grimes is worth it. 'It's the same ballpark as what (Caris) LeVert and Nickeil Alexander-Walker got in average annual value,' he said. So now, like the rest of his restricted counterparts, Grimes waits, hoping to make the money his performance dictates he deserves and hoping to avoid the contract his lack of leverage could plop in front of him.
