| | Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY -- Jeff Hornacek threw his sneakers, a
basketball and 14 years of NBA memories into a big canvas cart.
Then he wheeled it down a corridor and into the Delta Center
parking lot.
Just like that, he retired from the league at age 37.
|  | | Jeff Hornacek is saying goodbye to the game, and hello to more time with his wife, Stacy, right, and three children. |
"Right now, it's just the end of another season," Hornacek
said after cleaning out his locker Wednesday. "I'm sure it will
hit more in October when these guys head back to camp."
Once again, 36-year-old Karl Malone and 38-year-old John
Stockton will return for the Jazz, but increasingly it looks like
there won't be an NBA title to reward their standout careers.
A five-game loss to Portland in the Western Conference
semifinals marked Utah's shortest playoff appearance in five years,
leaving the team with a sense of resignation that it might not be
meant to happen.
"We didn't win a championship, but you have to be realistic,"
said coach Jerry Sloan.
The Jazz begin the offseason uncertain what to expect next fall.
The most pressing issue involves reserve point guards Howard
Eisley and Jacque Vaughn, both free agents. Each said he hopes to
return, but neither promised anything.
"This is a business and I want to be smart with my
opportunities," Vaughn said. "But I also want to be smart about
my opportunities as a basketball player. In the long run, I want to
be able to help my team more consistently, with more minutes."
Said Eisley: "I don't want to count anything until it's done.
I've worked hard to put myself in this position, to get some
security for my family."
Owner Larry Miller hopes both players can see themselves in Jazz
uniforms "down the road four or five years from now." Sloan
seemed less certain he'll have either next season.
"I wish both of them nothing but the best." Sloan said. "If
they go somewhere else, they don't owe me a dime. We want them to
do well because they've done well for us."
Because of salary cap restrictions stemming in part from
contracts Miller awarded to Stockton and Malone before last season,
a major overhaul of the Jazz lineup is unlikely.
Instead, Miller hopes to see other players, like Bryon Russell,
emerge.
"To have this team be a finals contender, we're either going to
have to get lucky in the draft or we're going to have some existing
players step up as star players," Miller said.
"Guys like Bryon Russell have done a good job for us here, but
they just can't be role players anymore," he said.
Russell missed two free throws in the closing seconds of Tuesday
night's loss in Portland. On Utah's last possession, he drew
contact from Rasheed Wallace but no foul was called on his 3-point
try at the horn.
While discussing that play, Russell unwittingly agreed with
Miller.
"Maybe if I was Kobe or somebody big-time, I could have gotten
that foul at the end and had a chance to redeem myself," Russell
said, referring to Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant.
The Jazz can take pride in their overachieving season. Utah won
55 games and the Midwest Division title after being picked as low
as fourth in some preseason forecasts.
"No one really gave us a chance because we're so old, but we
had a pretty good year," said Malone, who is signed for three more
seasons. "You can always go back and look at what could have
happened, but it's over now."
Stockton, with one year remaining on his contract, expects to
honor it.
"I think when the time comes you know it," Stockton said.
"Jeff knew it, obviously, before the season, but I have no such
thoughts."
Hornacek will watch from the stands or on television next
season. In more than six seasons with the Jazz, he learned no
offseason scramble can displace Stockton or Malone.
"You're never going to make big changes until John and Karl
leave," Hornacek said. "You'll just have to keep piecing guys
in."
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