alex lowry

After working in Utah politics, including a 2004 stint managing then Gov.-elect Jon Huntsman’s transition team, Steve Starks set his sights not on sports but on earning an MBA.

The plan included asking late Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller to write a letter of recommendation as part of his graduate school application. But Miller, sensing potential, hired Starks instead, setting in motion Starks’ rapid rise to his current job as president of the Jazz.

“Given his reputation and the business he owned, I jumped at the chance,” Starks said of his decision to follow Miller.

But there was only one issue. Miller hired Starks in 2007 with no job title, only a plan to groom the young executive into an undefined role within the vast Miller business empire.

“Larry said stay flexible and stay loose because you never know how it will go,” Starks said. “I was very respectful, and I was there to learn.”

He proved to be a quick study.

After Starks worked in various roles, Miller eventually assigned him to the Jazz. He was named team president in 2015.

“I spent the first eight or nine years working in the non-sports [area] and that was incredibly important,” Starks said. “It was like getting an MBA.”

He hit the ground running as team president. Over the last year, he led a $125 million renovation of Vivint Smart Home Arena, a project completed on time and on budget in just 129 days. He secured a jersey patch deal and is involved in the team’s on-court resurgence.

“We need to be good stewards of the brand,” Starks said. “The ultimate goal is to win an NBA championship. What we do on the business side and basketball side is in concert with each other. I don’t see them as two separate parts.”

— John Lombardo