Freddy Sjostrom
Registered User
- Jun 24, 2018
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- 624
‘Utah’s ready for a team,’ new owner saysSmith was unable to speak to executives, coaches and players before the deal closed.
“I wish I could be calling everyone every minute, working on it,” he said. “Unfortunately, that’s just not in the cards. … It’s kind of like you’re sitting on the fence watching, and I also I think there’s a season to be played.”
Smith said the first priority now is to set up everyone in Utah and “make sure that they have a great experience.” Nothing like this has happened there since the Jazz moved from New Orleans in 1979.
“There’s a good roster and a lot of young talent, and we’ve got to onboard those people into Smith Entertainment Group and show them what that means and what that’s like,” he said. “I think that’s a good opportunity for us. [We need to] introduce them to the state of Utah and also bring the community together to receive them, and that’s what we want to do.
“I mean, I think they’ve been in a spot where it’s been a little tricky, and I think we have a chance as a community to show this is a moment. We haven’t had a team come here since 1979 of this scale. This is a ‘Where were you when this happened?’ moment.”
After years of bad owners, this must be refreshing to the players, staff, and families.