Jazz CEO Greg Miller Wednesday said his family has "absolutely no intention of selling the team," according to Brian Smith of the SALT LAKE TRIBUNE. Miller, responding to a recent report the Jazz could be sold, said, "I get frustrated whenever I see that. Because my Dad [the late Larry Miller] has said since he bought the team in 1985 that the Jazz will be a part of the Salt Lake landscape and the Utah landscape as long as they're not a burden on the other businesses that we depend on to keep our employees employed and feed our families and so on." He added, "I'm going to echo what my Dad said: If it ever gets to the point where it's a burden, then we'll reserve the right to do what we need to do to protect our other interests. But we're not even in the realm of consideration of that right now. And I must add that is due primarily to wonderful support from our fans and wonderful support from our sponsors" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 11/27).
PLAYING A NEW TUNE: In Utah, Randy Hollis noted the Jazz "will benefit greatly from a more generous share of the BRI" under the NBA's new CBA. It will give a small-market team like the Jazz a "huge financial boost which will help offset the type of losses the franchise was forced to endure last season -- reportedly around $17 million." Adding in the CBA's "new-and-improved salary cap restrictions/luxury tax penalties along with its revenue sharing possibilities, it should not only make the Jazz franchise increasingly solvent and profitable, but help put Utah's front office in a better position to make the team increasingly competitive in the future." All of these factors "would help improve the league's competitive balance and serve to give a team like the Jazz an enhanced opportunity at possibly winning an NBA championship" (DESERET NEWS, 11/27). Also in Utah, Kurt Kragthorpe wrote, "Utah needs the Jazz to play basketball, beyond any economic factors. The team is a unifier, a rallying point" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 11/27).
