Basketball Gods align as the Utah Jazz and long-time fan, John Cleese, are in Phoenix on the same day!


John Cleese at KERA. Photo: Bill Young

The New York Knicks have Spike Lee, the Los Angeles Lakers may have Jack Nicholson, even Everton FC can count Dame Judi Dench among their ‘avid-Blue’ fan base. Now, the NBA’s Utah Jazz can count on none other than John Cleese, one of the original founding members of the Monty Python troupe, to be one of their most ardent fans. Even though he has never seen a game live, Cleese has remained a Jazz fan for more than two decades.

In true Cleese fashion, he apparently started his love affair with the Karl Malone/John Stockton-led Utah Jazz during the team’s NBA Finals runs in the late-90s, just to be a contrarian to his daughter’s favorite team, the Chicago Bulls. That, and his self-admitted love of all things ‘silly’, led to a decades long following from across the pond.

I love silly names,” Cleese told fans at the FanX pop culture convention at the Salt Palace in 2019. “And there has never, ever been a sillier name than the Utah Jazz.

Fast forward to April 2021 where Cleese and daughter Camilla find themselves in Phoenix tonight (April 6) appearing at the House of Comedy for a special night of “Comedy with the Cleeses” beginning at 7p. As luck would have it, it appears that the basketball Gods have aligned the planets to where the Utah Jazz will be visiting the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday evening opening the door for Cleese to finally get an opportunity to see the high-flying 38-12 Utah Jazz in person.

Recognizing how close he’d be to the possibility of seeing 2021 NBA Western Conference greatness, Cleese (with a little help from PhotoShop) took to Twitter to reach out to the team for tickets…

Jazz owner, Ryan Smith, rose to the occasion not long after apparently ‘taking care’ of the ticket request.

Cleese, after not initially realizing that tickets would still be available at this late date with the top two Western Conference teams squaring off, ended up and bought two tickets and should be in attendance on Wednesday. Say hi, just don’t ask him to do a silly walk on the concourse.

While Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert may not be John Stockton and Karl Malone, they are 38-12 and sit atop the traditionally strong Western Conference. Should be a good game to be your first Utah Jazz game to see in person.


In: Odds & Sods