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SALT LAKE CITY — The 2024-25 Utah Jazz will live on in infamy.
Or, depending on how the 2025 NBA draft lottery turns out, maybe they'll be remembered in quiet reverence.
With a 110-106 loss to the equally awful Charlotte Hornets on Monday, the Jazz have clinched the worst record in franchise history, hitting the 60-loss mark for the first time ever. And they did it with plenty of basketball still to play.
For that matter, don't be surprised if six more defeats are on the way.
The Jazz's previous worst record came in its first season in New Orleans in 1974-75, when the team won 23 games. The team's previous worst mark in Utah came in 1979-80 in its first year in Salt Lake City, when the Jazz went 24-58.
Epic failure? Not exactly. At least not to team management.
So far, the Jazz organization has accomplished what it set out this season to do: get the best lottery odds.
And Monday's loss certainly helped with that.
Kyle Filipowski, who had 14 points and 13 rebounds, missed a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left that would have tied the game.
It was missed 3-pointers (Utah went 14-for-52 from deep) and some bad defensive rotations late that cost the Jazz late on Monday. Keyonte George had 20 points and Brice Sensabaugh added 19 points on five 3-pointers for the Jazz.
"The last four minutes of the game we missed three weak side bottom helps, and it led to them scoring baskets at the rim," Jazz coach Will Hardy said.
His bosses likely weren't too disappointed, though.
The loss kept Utah (16-60) at the bottom of the NBA standings (Washington is 16-59). The team is now 3.5 games "ahead" of Charlotte, which is third.
It would take a completely unlikely Jazz win streak for them not to have a 14% chance at the top pick and Duke phenom Cooper Flagg. The bottom three teams all have the same odds for the No. 1 pick and a top-four pick.
Still, even if Utah does end up at the bottom, it will have a 47.9% chance of dropping to the fifth pick — a fall that happened to Detroit after a historically bad 2023-24 season.
So, nothing is guaranteed — especially for a Jazz franchise that has never picked No. 1. But they've never had as good of a chance as they will this season.
Will all the losses be worth it? They'll find out in May.
