Thank goodness the Millers lead with their hearts. Utah and the Jazz are better for it

Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (45) talks to team owner Gail Miller after the Jazz beat the Dallas Mavericks at the Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

Because of a 35-year record of passion and service to the state, Utahns can feel confident that new Jazz owner Ryan Smith will guard the legacy and the community heirloom

Business people who lead with their hearts often fail, but that’s not always true, especially when that heart is big enough to contain an entire state.

And thank goodness it wasn’t true for Larry H. Miller, whose heart wouldn’t let the Utah Jazz fail in Utah, despite all odds.

Words seem insufficient when it comes to giving proper credit to the Miller family for establishing the Utah Jazz empire. From the NBA franchise down to the least talented kid who signs up for Junior Jazz with a dream in his or her heart, it has united the state and brought joy to so many. And who could count how many lives the family’s philanthropic efforts have blessed?

Gail Miller’s decision to sell a majority interest in the team, the arena and everything associated with it this week came as a shock to many in the state. But that shock was followed by a calm reassurance. Utahns should know by now that Gail Miller would never do anything that threatens the team’s presence in Utah or its place as a carefully crafted heirloom to be handed down to future generations.

A business person who operated strictly from a profit-loss calculus and with a low tolerance for risk never would have invested twice his net worth to buy a 50% interest in a team that, to that point, never had earned a dime. People say Larry H. Miller had a midas touch, but they forget how much of a risk was involved in those early days.

In the early 1980s, the NBA wasn’t anything near as big as it is today. Even in the largest markets, attendance was paltry by today’s standards. The league had a huge image problem, fueled by rampant cocaine use among players. The Wasatch Front was a small market. Already, the Utah Stars had come and gone, despite winning an ABA championship.

Although the Jazz were a playoff team the year before Miller made his initial investment, on some nights the team had drawn only about 7,000 fans. Miller’s $8 million initial investment in 1985, roughly twice his net worth, kept the team from moving to Miami.

The next year, he passed up a chance to earn a $6 million profit on that gamble and instead spent $14 million more he didn’t have to buy the rest of the team and keep it from moving to Minneapolis.

Fans became used to Larry’s emotions, whether displayed by yelling at his team during a game, confronting an exuberant Denver fan courtside or fighting back tears at press conferences. But no one could question his loyalty or his passion.

And his kindness often got short-shrift in the public’s collective memory. For instance, people remember him angrily confronting that Denver fan, but the way he apologized, gave the fan his home number, offered him tickets to future games and even sat courtside with him one night seldom is discussed.

When Larry died, his wife Gail kept the legacy going while becoming a civic, philanthropic and moral rock in the community. Without her, efforts to help the homeless along the Wasatch Front wouldn’t be nearly as effective, and sick children wouldn’t have nearly as many medical resources available to them.

Because of this 35-year record of passion and service to the state, Utahns can feel confident that new Jazz owner Ryan Smith will guard the legacy and the community heirloom. The Miller family wouldn’t allow anything less, and for that, all Utahns should be thankful.

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