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Guard · 2004–05

Kirk Snyder

Snyder led Nevada to its first Sweet 16 in 2004, beating second-seeded Gonzaga and Michigan State along the way, and the Jazz took him 16th overall that June. Utah dealt him after one season in a 13-player, five-team blockbuster, and he found his best form in New Orleans, where a 28-point night against Minnesota marked his career high. His NBA run ended in 2008 with the Timberwolves.

Life afterward turned hard. Released early, he returned to the court with the Halifax Rainmen, whose owner said simply that everybody deserves a second chance.

HOW HE CAME & WENTUtah drafted him 16th overall in 2004 and his entire Jazz career was that rookie season under Jerry Sloan. Frustrated by the minutes, he asked to be traded — Sloan said he was not looking to move him — and Utah sent him to New Orleans in August 2005.

Full name
Kirk Patrick Snyder
Utah Jazz tenure
2004–05
Position
Guard
Born
1983, Los Angeles
Height
6′6″ (198 cm)
Weight
225 lb (102 kg)
College
Nevada
Drafted
2004, 1st round (No. 16), Utah
Signature in the archive 2005 Upper Deck SP Signatures Card # SP-KS FREE SHIPPING

No photograph of this signature is online yet.

With the Jazz

KIRK SNYDER · 2004–05 · PER GAME
SEASONTEAMGMPGPPGRPGAPGSPGBPGFG%3P%FT%
2004–05UTA6813.35.01.80.50.40.3.372.353.667
JAZZ TOTAL1 SEASON6813.35.01.80.50.40.3.372.353.667

Season by season, regular season, with this franchise only. More info: Basketball-Reference ↗  ·  Wikipedia ↗

Did you know

KIRK SNYDER · 8 NOTES
  • Led Nevada to a Sweet Sixteen upset run in the 2004 NCAA tournament before being drafted.
  • Left Utah in one of the largest trades in NBA history — a thirteen-player deal spread across five teams.
  • His 2004 Joe Kearney Award named him the WAC's athlete of the year across every sport, not just basketball.
  • He scored 1,404 points at Nevada, still among the top fifteen in Wolf Pack history two decades later.
  • Nevada inducted him into its Athletics Hall of Fame during homecoming weekend in October 2025, with his son Kade in the stands.
  • His son Kade, a 6-foot-8 guard, committed to Nevada for 2026-27, following his father to Reno.
  • Looking back a year later he said 'It wasn't a comfortable thing for me, because of things that didn't apply to basketball.'
  • Salt Lake received the trade that brought him badly — a Deseret News column asked 'Are Jazz this desperate for a center?'