 In 2001, López was selected in the first round of the 2001 NBA Draft, 24th overall, by the Utah Jazz.In September 2002, he signed his NBA rookie contract with the Utah Jazz and underwent surgery to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, missing the entire 2002–03 NBA season.Finally, in the 2003–04 season, totally recovered from his knee injury, he played in all of the 82 regular season games as the backup to starting point guard Carlos Arroyo, while averaging 7.0 points, 3.7 assists and 1.9 rebounds in 19.7 minutes per game.