There was no playbook. No track set. Just ambition and a market that wasn't yet ready for basketball. So Barry Mendelson, Executive Vice President and General Manager for the New Orleans Jazz, had to make it up as he went.
The Superdome was the main attraction to bringing the franchise, but when the 1974 season tipped off, the cavernous dome was still a couple months off. Mendelson found the Municipal Auditorium and Loyola Fieldhouse as suitable accommodations - well sort of.
Loyola Fieldhouse had a raised floor, which was a safety hazard. Mendelson had to instal fishing net to contain the players and avoid injury. Bob Lanier, the head of the NBA players association, needed to sign off.
"So he literally ran from one side of the court to the other side of the court, jumped into the netting, and the netting propelled him back," Mendelson remembered. "And so he said, 'Okay, now I’ve got to do it to the other side of the court.' So he did the same thing. Got a head of steam and jumped into the netting, and it propelled him back. He looked at me. This must have been all of five minutes. He looked at me and said, 'Everything’s perfect.' And he walked out of the gym! And so we were then granted permission to play in Loyola Fieldhouse for the balance of the 74-75 season."
Roundball Roundup is presented by First Colony Mortgage, the official mortgage lender of the Utah Jazz.