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Greg Miller

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» Sunday, October 23 2011

Thirty-two years after Larry bought his first dealership, LHM fights on. Staff reductions kept the company profitable, while LHM invested savings back into a company that started to focus more on its core assets. Grand openings and remodelings now decorate the company’s calendar, while $120 million has been devoted to current and future construction costs on the auto side. All the while, a business that sold 54,345 new and used cars in 2010 balances its desire for financial profit with its importance to the community. But LHM hasn’t been untouchable: Larry Miller’s beloved but unprofitable Miller Motor-sports Park has been a financial drain. Salt Lake Tribune

His controversial decision not to screen the gay-themed “Brokeback Mountain” in 2006 on the family’s theaters backfired, illustrating to some that the corporation was out of touch. VIP season ticket holders in 2010 sued the corporate parent of the Jazz, accusing team ownership of causing their courtside seats to plummet in value by taking away exclusive rights. The case is pending. But records from Utah’s 3rd District Court show 214 cases involving the Miller companies from 1988 to the present in which the company was a plaintiff 182 times and a defendant just eight. Salt Lake Tribune

No matter how tightly Rigby runs the sports-and-entertainment division, a few extra millions made by a pro basketball team are secondary to LHM’s ability to successfully emerge from the recession. The largest change occurred under the radar, and it could be the biggest key to the company’s continued success. Miller said a 20-month plan to pay off LHM’s capital and revolving debt was expected to come to fruition six months early. The company was prepared to be debt free in both areas by the end of September, leaving real estate as the only remaining negative. Moreover, LHM has significant capital reserves, allowing the majority of its future growth to occur without leverage. Salt Lake Tribune

Meanwhile, the Jazz have been criticized by some agents who have requested anonymity before railing against what they say are the team’s tightfisted ways. But many more players say the organization represents the best of what the NBA has to offer. Then there’s Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, a longtime Jazz supporter who hears two questions when he travels across the country: Are you Mormon, and wasn’t John Stockton great? “The legacy of Larry Miller is going to live on forever … in this community,” Becker said. Salt Lake Tribune

 

» Monday, October 17 2011

 

» Saturday, May 28 2011

Greg Miller: "I really had a hard time with the timing and the circumstances of his departure. It really surprised me that he left midseason." "I did tell him, I said, 'Jerry, do you realize if you leave right now, that it's going to cause a lot of drama?'" Twitter

 

» Monday, May 2 2011

 

» Sunday, April 24 2011

O’Connor said that Utah was united behind its CEO as the organization heads into its most important summer since John Stockton and Karl Malone left Salt Lake City. The franchise was down before, and former owner Larry Miller lifted it up. The team now belongs to Larry’s son Greg and Larry’s former wife, Gail Miller. The same blood that ran through the father’s veins still runs through the son’s. “Don’t mistake the calm or the quietness, as compared to what Larry was, for the lack of interest or the lack of competitiveness,” O’Connor said. “Because it’s there. … The competitiveness that they have as a family was certainly passed down generationally.” Salt Lake Tribune

 

» Thursday, March 3 2011

 

» Thursday, February 24 2011

Miller said he and general manager Kevin O’Connor had conversations over the past few months both with Williams and his representatives, and that Williams was non-committal about his future every time. He didn’t say he was definitely leaving, but he didn’t say he was definitely staying, either. And the Jazz were increasingly worried that Williams would walk. “At the end of the day, I never heard him say he was going to stay or go,” Miller said. “Just going with my gut, I just felt like he would likely be moving on. The opportunity to make this trade caught us by surprise when NJ called (Tuesday) and asked if we’d be interested in doing the deal. Kevin called me yesterday afternoon … we decided this would be a great opporunity for the Utah Jazz to preserve the value of Deron Williams by trading for these four, essentially, first round picks, and control our destiny, which I wasn’t sure we would be able to do with Deron.” NBA.com

 

» Monday, February 14 2011

Larry Miller made sure that his children knew enough about his various businesses to take over. The Millers met weekly over the past few years as a family to discuss how things would go after Larry Miller's passing. (They still meet weekly.) So Greg Miller had thought about what life would be like for his team after Jerry Sloan left. He would honor his father's wishes and hire assistant coach Phil Johnson to replace Sloan when the time came. Johnson had turned down chances to leave Utah over the years for head coaching jobs, and Larry Miller had told him he wouldn't forget, and he didn't. NBA.com

The first thing was to offer Johnson the job. But before Miller could speak, Johnson said he was leaving with Sloan. "And Jerry had this look on his face," Miller said. "He told me (later) that that was the first he'd heard of that." NBA.com

It's probably fair to say that the 44-year-old Miller may be closer to Corbin than he was with the 68-year-old Sloan. "I revere Jerry and everything he's done for this franchise," Miller said. "But now that he's gone, I'm excited. I'm excited about Tyrone. Tyrone and I are contemporaries. And we are coming in under similar circumstances. He is replacing a legendary coach here in Salt Lake City and I took over for someone who was a beloved member of the community that I was compared to when he died. I still am. And that's one of the things I told Tyrone. We had dinner the other night. And I said, you should absolutely take things that you liked from Jerry. But you have to do what you think is right, too." NBA.com

 

» Saturday, February 12 2011

Malone's money quote: "I will say this: I know my coach. I know my coach. And I know my assistant coach. And I know all these coaches. The coach I know and the man I know have never quit or resigned in anything. That's what I want to say." When pressed on it, Malone said, "What I said is what I said. I know Jerry Sloan. And the people that know him the closest know that man would never resign or quit if you want to, on nothing. I don't care what it is." CBSSports.com

 

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