Editing Utah Jazz (section)

===2003–2005: Post-Malone/Stockton era===
Without Malone and Stockton, the faces of the Jazz franchise, the team lacked foundation as it went into the [[2003–04 NBA season|2003–04]] season. They were expected to finish near the bottom of the NBA by several NBA preview magazines, including ''[[Sports Illustrated]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wertheim |first1=Lewis Jon |title=With a legend gone, a talent-starved team has a new point to make |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/magazine/10/20/jazz/ |website=SI.com |access-date=August 19, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040902182932/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/magazine/10/20/jazz/ |archive-date=September 2, 2004 |date=October 27, 2003}}</ref> The Jazz finished with a 42–40 record. The team featured several unheralded players who emerged as key contributors, including Kirilenko, [[Raja Bell]], and [[Carlos Arroyo]]. In particular, Kirilenko demonstrated versatility on both offense and defense and earned a spot in the [[2004 NBA All-Star Game|All-Star Game]]. The Jazz missed the playoffs by one game to the [[2003–04 Denver Nuggets season|Denver Nuggets]], ending a streak of 20 consecutive seasons in the playoffs. [[Jerry Sloan]] finished second in the voting for the [[NBA Coach of the Year Award]], losing to [[Hubie Brown]] of the Memphis Grizzlies.

During the off-season, the team made moves to change the roster; they acquired [[Carlos Boozer]] and [[Mehmet Okur]] as free agents and re-signed Carlos Arroyo and [[Gordan Giricek]] to extensions.

The 2004–05 season was marked by injuries, first to Arroyo and [[Raül López (basketball)|Raúl López]], and later to Boozer and Kirilenko, which were a large part of the team's fall to the bottom of the division. When healthy, Boozer averaged 17.8 points and 9.0 rebounds in 51 games. The Jazz ended the [[2004–05 NBA season|2004–05]] season 26–56, their worst since the 1981–82 season.