Q&A: Former Utah Jazz owner Gail Miller talks All-Star Game

Ryan Sun, Deseret News

The security guard greets a guest in the lobby of the Jordan Commons office tower and escorts him to an elevator, where the former uses a walkie-talkie to tell someone upstairs that the guest is on his way up. He’s got his 10-20, roger that. The elevator doors open on the ninth floor, where the guest is greeted by two smiling ladies, and he is escorted to a spacious all-glass office. They offer him bottled water and ask him to wait briefly. Moments later, in walks Gail Miller, the grand matriarch of the Utah Jazz, if not the entire state.

It’s like a visit to Utah royalty. She won’t like the previous sentence — she’s as unpretentious as a pair of penny loafers — but, notwithstanding, she is a universally beloved woman and perhaps the most recognized person in the state not named Osmond or Redford, with her striking white hair and serene, kindly aura. The woman who grew up in the avenues so poor that the family had a single lightbulb to move around the house as needed is now the richest person in the state, worth a reported $4 billion. Nearing 80, she’s just warming up in her golden years remake as a businesswoman, philanthropist and community facilitator.

With the NBA All-Star Game coming to town for the first time in 30 years this week, this seemed like a good time to catch up with Miller. She is now only a minority owner of the team — she sold 80% of the franchise in 2020 for $1.66 billion to Ryan Smith and then sold off some more shares in 2022 — but who can think of her and the Miller family without thinking of the Jazz. It was under the Miller ownership that the Jazz grew from a money-sucking perennial loser into a thriving franchise. It was still under Miller’s ownership when the team applied to host this week’s All-Star Game.

“It’s quite an honor to have it again,” she says.

She explains that she and then-Jazz president Steve Starks decided in 2018 that it was a good time to pursue the All-Star game, largely because the Jazz had just completed a major renovation of their (fill-in-the-latest-name-here) home arena.

“The NBA likes to showcase the arenas,” she says. “It cost more to renovate it than it did to build it, so it really is new. It just had good bones.”

The arena probably played a role when the Jazz won the bid for 1993. The Delta Center — its past and future name — was less than two years old when the game was played. The arena, plus the proximity of the airport and the availability of hotels and other facilities (Huntsman Center, Salt Palace) also were factors. There was one concern that even the Millers couldn’t change.

“It’s a cold climate,” says Gail. “They were worried about it. And then we had a huge snowstorm on Saturday (the day of the game). It didn’t dampen the experience. The city cleared the roads. They were impressed. We had promised them we’d handle it if it snowed.”

Don Stirling, the executive director of the Miller family office who formerly worked for the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee, believes that weekend showed that the state could handle large events and laid the groundwork for bigger things. Two years later Salt Lake won the bid to host the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. The NBA Finals came to SLC in 1997 and 1998.

“If we could do those things, we could do the Winter Games,” says Stirling, who has joined the conversation. “ … The vision Larry and Gail had in our community — without the Utah Jazz there would not have been the 2002 Winter Games. It certainly helped.”

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Aside from all of that, Miller and Stirling believe there’s another reason the team was awarded All-Star Weekend. “The league has always had great respect for this franchise,” says Stirling.

“Larry cultivated it,” says Gail. “He and (then-commissioner) David Stern were very good friends.”

She is referring of course to her late husband, Larry H. Miller, the ubiquitous Salt Lake entrepreneur. He risked financial ruin to keep the team from leaving Salt Lake City because he believed that it would be good for his native state. When the All-Star Game came to SLC, “Larry was thrilled,” says Gail. “He loved to create opportunities for people to have a good time. Even though he was an entrepreneur, he was not as excited by the business part as he was for the opportunities to bring joy to people.”

She recalls something Larry said when he was asked how he wanted to be remembered. “I want to be remembered as a man who loved Utah,” he said tearfully. Gail had the last five words of that statement inscribed on his headstone. Larry also once said, “Selling the Jazz would be like selling Canyonlands.” He put his money where his mouth was, refusing fantastically lucrative offers from outside investors to keep the Jazz in the state. The Millers sold the team to Smith, knowing the franchise would remain here.

“It was never about us,” says Gail. “It was about the community. To bring people together. It was successful and I hope it will continue. You have to have a way to get away from the grind and stress and bring people together to enjoy something.”

A different time

Almost everything about the NBA, the Jazz and the Millers themselves has changed since the last time the state hosted the All-Star Game. Three new teams have been added to the league. Michael Jordan left the game (three times). International players have flooded NBA rosters. Miller died a can-you-believe-it 14 years ago, and his family sold the Jazz. David Stern is gone. The arena has had three name changes — Delta, Energy Solutions, Vivint and soon to be Delta again. The Jazz were worth about $60 million at that time; today the franchise is valued at over $2 billion (“Guess we sold too soon,” Miller says, but she makes it clear she isn’t serious — after all, the Millers made a 2,000% return on their original investment.”) And the Jazz’s old guard — Sloan, Layden, Johnson, Stockton, Malone, Hornacek — have all left the building.

Gail Miller has been there for all of it, the one constant for the Jazz. Larry always said his wife was a big part of everything he did. She was always in support roles, usually in the background, except when she was sitting beside her husband in their courtside seats. She didn’t always want to attend the games — she had other things she wanted to do — but Larry thought it was necessary that she be there to show support and solidarity for the team.

Larry was so focused during the game itself that he seldom even engaged in chitchat, nor did he want Gail to talk with guests because he thought it would appear she didn’t care about the team. So Gail, always the good soldier, attended the games with him, quietly watching for the most part. Now her husband is gone, but she’s still the good soldier, attending almost every home game with her second husband Kim Wilson. It was a hard habit to break, she says.

“I needed to show support to Ryan (the new owner),” she adds. “There was some sense of transition, although he’s doing great without me. I think he likes to look across to see me there.” She gave up two of the family’s six seats when the team was sold because “I knew (Ryan) has people he wants to take care of.”

Tom Smart, Deseret News

There was at least one occasion when she didn’t sit beside Larry for a game. During the ’93 All-Star Game, Larry sat with the commissioner on the court; Gail was in Row 14. “I wish I had memories of that game, but I was raising (adopted grandson) Zane, who was 4 years old at the time,” she says. “I was a support to Larry and a spectator, managing kids and keeping Larry healthy. I was involved with Jazz wives. As I recall we brought some things to the wives party — a quilt show.”

As it turned out, the 1993 All-Star Game unfolded as if Hollywood scripted it precisely for the Jazz and their fans. Not only did they have the game in their backyard, but the team’s two stars made star turns. Karl Malone had 28 points and 10 rebounds and John Stockton had nine points and 15 assists. Gail remembers worrying that one of them would win the MVP award, and, if so, which one would be left out. Stockton and Malone were named co-MVPs — the first time that had happened in the four-decade history of the game (it has happened twice since then, but never for regular-season teammates).

“It was appropriate that they were both recognized,” says Miller.

New responsibilities

Miller was drawn into her husband’s business world when her husband died, and she jumped in with both feet, serving as chairwoman over the Larry H. Miller Company, which includes the Jazz. Along the way, she engendered affection and respect even from the players. Donovan Mitchell went out of his way to give Miller a hug during a recent road swing through Salt Lake City. And Rudy Gobert, who was traded to the Timberwolves in the offseason, texted Miller after playing a game in Salt Lake: “Sorry I didn’t get to say hello. Utah will always be home.”

At times Miller, whose innate kindness belies a tough side, has asserted herself. She stayed in the background until she felt she couldn’t. In 2019, there was a verbal altercation between Russell Westbrook and a Utah fan that made national news. Three nights later, Miller stood in the center of the court before a game and told the audience, “I am extremely disappointed that one of our ‘quote’ fans conducted himself in such a way as to offend not only a guest in our arena, but also me personally, my family, our organization, the community, our players and you, as the best fans in the NBA. This should never happen. We are not a racist community.”

Miller will turn 80 in October, but she has the energy of a woman half her age. Both Stirling and Amanda Covington, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer and part of the LHM executive team, mention the same thing almost verbatim in separate conversations: “It’s hard for us to keep up with her.” 

She politely resists the compliment, but adds, “I had to make up for lost time. I didn’t start this until Larry died. I started when most people my age were retiring. Most of what I’ve done is prepare for the future — create a transition, education for the children, family governance, family council.”

Miller worked an average of almost seven hours a day last year, dividing her time for company business, the Miller Family Office and community initiatives and events. Her days are a mix of speaking engagements and meetings with leaders in government and various foundations and advocacy groups.

“She has a special gift of bringing people together and uniting on issues,” says Covington. “She inspires. She loves people and sees them for who they are. She tells me to assume the best in people, and she’s very approachable.”

What’s next

The LHM company, which has doubled in size and revenue since Larry died, has divested some of its most visible businesses, including its auto dealerships and most of the Jazz, but the purpose was to diversify its portfolio, not close up shop. They have bought health care companies and real estate holdings and made other investments while continuing ownership of their theaters and the Salt Lake Bees. Miller, who stepped down as chair but remains on the board, has immersed herself in philanthropy, especially homelessness.

As for the Jazz, she no longer has any involvement in the operation of the team. “It’s (Ryan’s) team,” she says. “I’m not going to meddle. We just get to go and enjoy. He does keep me informed of things.”

She didn’t need to be informed that the Jazz under Smith were going to do a complete roster makeover, trading their best veteran players, including two All-Stars, for draft picks; Miller knew it was coming “when it began to be evident that the team we handed down was not going to make it. … It’s purely their prerogative to do. We did it. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and start over. It’s surprising how (this year’s) team has done well.”

The ’90s were a magical decade for the Jazz, staging the All-Star Game and competing in two NBA Finals against Jordan’s Bulls. Asked if she sees a day when the Jazz will replicate that performance, she says, “Absolutely, we are going to have a championship in Salt Lake City. I see the efforts going into it.”

Melissa Majchrzak