SALT LAKE CITY — After 46 years, Dan Roberts is reflecting on his time as the public address announcer for the Utah Jazz after his last season.
With the NBA draft lottery approaching, the Utah Jazz have a decent shot at the number one pick, and fans are hoping for a better year next season.
WATCH: Do or die? Why the NBA Draft Lottery is so important for the Utah Jazz this season
The Delta Center sits quietly as renovations for the next season of hockey and basketball are well underway in the warm spring air. Soon, spring will turn to summer, and summer will turn to fall, signaling yet another season of Jazz basketball awaiting on the other side.
However, after 46 years, there will be one thing different: A voice that fans have heard since day one.
Dan Roberts, the long-time public address announcer for the Utah Jazz, is retiring.
“I donated a lot of my life to this situation, and I'm not unhappy with a moment of it," Roberts said.
Roberts has been a public address announcer for five decades.
“Let’s go back to day one with my first game with the ABA, the Utah Stars. That was in the old building, the Old Salt Palace, which is long ago and far away. But that’s where it all began," he explained.
When the Stars left in 1975, he kept busy, but then a little team called the Jazz came to town.
“I was invited for auditions and stuff like that," Roberts said.
And the rest is history, starting in 1978 with their first game.
“Milwaukee came in, we had a crowd of about 8,000 or so, if that, and they beat the crap out of us," Roberts said. "Frank [Layden] would call people, invite them to come to the games. You let us know when you can get here and that’s when we’ll start. Because it was the start, and it was a rough start, but slowly but surely it caught on.”
Even early on, Roberts said there were a few nerves starting out. Roberts Roberts confidently stated,stated,Roberts confidently stated,
“My presentation was a little bit more electric than it is today,” he admitted. “There was more energy coming out of me because of that, and that was a way of distributing the potential fear... If you were to see film from back then, I had longer hair and a beard and stuff.”
Then there’s that famous saying — if you’ve been a Jazz fan long enough, you know which one I mean.
WATCH BELOW: How Roberts' famous catch phrase “How ‘bout this Jazz” came to be
When asked about his favorite time period in his tenure, Roberts replied: “Yeah, the Karl and John years. The two of them took us to two championship series. I mean, that was part of my life as well. The way they played, the way John fed Carl, the way Carl scored, it was just the highlight of what was going on.”
Now, he’s a seasoned pro.
“46 years will do that to you,” he said, with that even being an NBA record.
“Nobody's going to come up with 46 years too much, in my opinion. It should be a fairly safe record,” Roberts confidently stated, .
As his final season wound down, he expressed optimism for the future of the team he has served for so many years.
“They'll always be popular. It's just going to grow and grow and grow, basically.”
And one thing’s for certain: The team he loves loves him back tenfold.
“What would your message be to the fans who have watched you and heard you over so many years?” I asked him.
Roberts responded: “Thank you. Thank you for listening. Thank you for letting me motivate you. Thank you for letting me scream in front of you. Thank you for not getting angry with my screw-ups every now and then.”
“You know, longest tenured announcer in the league, that’s OK. I can live with that. That’s an accomplishment.”
