What I Learned From Greg Miller

Illustration by Mizuho Nishio of Clint Peterson, David J. Smith and Diana Allen sitting court-side with former Utah Jazz CEO Greg Miller in 2012

He was taller and more soft spoken than I had expected. He was also funnier and far more dedicated to the Utah Jazz than most fans will ever know. Greg Miller and brother Steve Miller are stepping down from their corporate management roles in the Utah Jazz and Miller Group to focus on family and personal interests.

"Besides Greg’s departure, Steve Miller has also chosen to step down from his role as president of Miller Sports Properties to assist in other areas of the family’s interests, according to the press release and Bryan Miller will retain his position as President of Miller Inspiration.“This is the right move for me personally, for my family and for the business,’’ Greg Miller is quoted as saying. “It has been a privilege to fill the role of CEO and to be a steward of this outstanding organization that my parents sacrificed so much to create and develop. The Larry H. Miller Group of Companies is now entering a new phase and requires a new structure. I have been fortunate to have worked with some of the best and brightest people anywhere.”–Mike Sorensen, Deseret News"

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The NBA lockout of 2011 had just mercifully ended barely a week prior and I was on my way to work on the morning of January 6, 2012 when my notifications sounded. I opened my Twitter account to find a new direct message awaiting.

Speechless, then absolutely giddy and stammering, I’d received a private invitation to attend that evening’s Utah Jazz game in Salt Lake City against the Memphis Grizzlies. Only it was no ordinary invitation. This was the owner and CEO of the Utah Jazz inviting me to dinner in the Lexus Club, then join him court-side in the family seats.

The rest of the day was a blur spent mostly gushing and worrying over whether or not I had any decent clean clothes.

The ‘golden ticket’ I got from Greg Miller in 2012

Mr. Miller was waiting for us at the gate with three golden tickets, worth nearly a grand apiece — having also invited Diana Allen and David J. Smith it what would become an annual tradition for three seasons, Miller inviting three fans to join him for a game. Diana, who had to drive all the way from Utah County, joined us a short time later escorted to the bowels of EnergySolutions Arena where Jazz brass and the elite fans of the team enjoyed a gratis spread before home games.

I went for a salad to start, Miller ribbing me with “I’m a steak and potatoes guy. None of that ‘rabbit food’ for me.”

On my way to get some “real food” — I had the salmon — I ran into Utah Jazz President Randy Rigby. When I introduced myself to him, he grinned and knew I was “the green basketball on Twitter!” The man is every bit as gracious and jovial as he seems.

As were worked on our first few bites, Mr. Miller had a gift for each of us: a Jazz note lapel pin. Of course mine found it’s way onto my infamous hat.

Over dinner, Miller took a personal interest in each of us, working his way around the table, listening intently with a smile to what each of us in turn had to tell him about ourselves. He then allowed us each a short Q&A session with him, anything goes.

My question to Greg Miller was concerning the NBA’s luxury tax. A few seasons before, with the Jazz knocking on the door of the league’s elite behind Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur, Jazz brass had opted to top the lux tax limit for the first time in effort to get over the elusive hump, something Greg’s father Larry H. Miller said the franchise would never do.

It took some sweet talking, but Miller and O’Connor did indeed pull it off, and in hindsight, it was certainly the right move to make

When I asked Mr. Miller if he’d consider paying the luxury tax again, if the Jazz were close, he didn’t even hesitate: “No. Never again. That killed us.”

Greg’s father, the man who brought the Jazz to Utah, gifting them to the community with his own sweat and blood, had passed away three years before, leaving his son in charge of day-to-day operations. He told us about his first NBA Board of Governors meeting, an event he was escorted into by the commissioner himself, David Stern.

Stern took Greg Miller around the room — he probably felt similar to how we did that night, a little nervous and a lot excited — introducing him to each team representative. When Stern got to the President of the Portland Trail Blazers, he said to Greg with a sly smile, “This is Larry Miller. The other Larry Miller. The black Larry Miller.”

Sitting court-side with Greg Miller in 2012

As we worked over dessert, Greg Miller told us about his experiences coming up in the Jazz organization, and it quickly became clear just how much of an impression his father had left on him.

The more Greg Miller talked about his dad, the more he beamed with pride. Many Jazz fans assume Greg didn’t care about the team the way his father had, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Mr. Miller cared every bit as much about the welfare of the team and it’s value to the Utah community. He just “has a different way of going about it.”

Greg Miller lives every day of his life this way. The Utah Jazz aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, except up in the NBA standings

Greg Miller simply isn’t as boisterous and loud as his father, Larry H. Miller, but he would sit in with franchise brass and discuss the direction of the team every week.

We were privy to information about the decision to trade Deron Williams to the New Jersey Nets. Turns out it was Greg Miller’s idea, a thought he then had to sell to then-GM Kevin O’Connor. Once O’Connor was convinced, the pair had to then in turn convince the big boss, Greg’s mother Gail Miller, who ultimately still has the last say on any major move made by the company.

It took some sweet talking, but Miller and O’Connor did indeed pull it off, and in hindsight, it was certainly the right move to make. Derrick Favors and the other assets acquired have the Jazz heading upward. Meanwhile, the Nets are in disarray and Deron Williams is prematurely a shell of his former self.

We were so engulfed in Miller regaling us with tales of his father’s legacy in the tunnel leading from the locker room to the court that we almost made Raja Bell miss the opening tip-off. In the tunnel there’s a plaque of Larry H. Miller with a quote that Greg wanted us to understand the meaning of.

"“Nobody laid down, nobody quit,nobody left anything in the locker room.It was all out there on the floor…I’ve always said to our guys,‘I’ll never ask you to win, but I will ask youto give us everything you’ve got.'”–Larry H. Miller"

Greg Miller lives every day of his life this way. The Utah Jazz aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, except up in the NBA standings.

Good friend and great artist Mizuho Nishio immortalized us all that night. One I’ll never forget.

Oh yeah, naturally the Utah Jazz won.

Greg Miller is a Toyota Land Cruiser enthusiast