Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

Utah Jazz officially sold to tech entrepreneur and Qualtrics founder Ryan Smith

The Utah Jazz today announced that tech entrepreneur and Qualtrics founder, Ryan Smith, and his wife Ashley, are the new majority owners of the Utah Jazz and affiliated businesses following a unanimous vote of approval by the NBA Board of Governors.

The transaction included the Utah Jazz, Vivint Arena, the NBA G League Salt Lake City Stars, and management operations of the Triple-A baseball affiliate Salt Lake Bees. A separate agreement and approval process are ongoing for The Zone Sports Network (97.5 FM, 1280 AM). These properties will comprise the newly formed Smith Entertainment Group (SEG). Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Per the Salt Lake Tribune, “the final sale price — which will see the Miller family retain a minority share — is for $1.66 billion, per multiple media reports.”

Smith, 42, is the co-founder of Qualtrics, the leader in customer experience and creator of the experience management (XM) category. Qualtrics helps organizations design and improve the four core experiences of business — customer, employee, product, and brand — on a single technology platform.

Tech entrepreneur Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder of Atlassian, and venture capitalist, Ryan Sweeney, partner at Accel, have also been announced as minority owners. Cannon-Brookes, based in Sydney, Australia, co-founded Atlassian in 2002 and has grown the company to more than 5,000 employees and 180,000 customers. He will be the first Australian to own a minority interest in an NBA franchise. Sweeney, one of the most successful investors in tech, joined Accel in 2009. Accel was the first investor in both Qualtrics and Atlassian and was an early investor in Facebook, Dropbox, GOAT, Slack, Spotify, and Squarespace, among many others.

Also per the Tribune, “Qualtrics has had a sponsorship deal with the Jazz to put the logo of their cancer charity, 5 For The Fight, on the team’s jerseys — a deal that last year was extended through the 2022-23 season. The partnership has thus far raised more than $26 million for cancer research.”

“Ryan Smith is a forward-thinking, community-minded entrepreneur and business leader who will be a fantastic addition to our league,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “As a life-long fan of the Utah Jazz and more recently as one of their key marketing partners, Ryan has demonstrated his deep commitment to the Jazz and the Utah community and there’s no doubt he will bring that same level of dedication to the operation of the team. We are also extraordinarily appreciative of Gail Miller, Greg Miller and the Miller family for 35 years of outstanding leadership and service and, on behalf of the entire NBA, thank them for always running a first-class organization in every way.”

Smith has been a strong corporate partner of the Jazz and co-founded “5 For The Fight” whose logo has been featured on the Jazz jersey since 2017. 5 For The Fight is the campaign to eradicate cancer by supporting groundbreaking cancer research and has raised more than $26 million. The patch, donated to 5 For The Fight by Qualtrics, is the first philanthropic jersey patch in the history of North American professional sports.

“I don’t think there has ever been a more exciting time to be in Utah. Not only do we have a great team and organization with the Jazz, but the trajectory of the state as a whole is unmatched. There is so much opportunity here and success breeds success,” said Ryan Smith, Qualtrics founder and owner of the Utah Jazz. “I grew up as a big Jazz fan, and that makes this day even more special. The Jazz have a phenomenal leadership team who will continue to guide the organization. We are all committed to building, and to building in Utah.”

Gail Miller and the Miller family announced the agreement on Oct. 28 to sell a majority interest in the Jazz after 35 years of stewardship. The Millers have retained a minority interest in the team.

“I’m incredibly grateful to Gail Miller and her family for placing their trust in Ashley and me to carry forward their amazing legacy. It would be impossible to overstate the far-reaching impact Gail has had blessing countless lives,” said Smith. “In addition, I couldn’t be more excited to have Mike Cannon-Brookes and Ryan Sweeney, two long-time friends and business partners, on this journey with us. They are the best in the world at what they do and are all in on Utah.”

“For us, the Jazz franchise is about love. It’s about coming together to love something bigger than individuals,” said Ashley Smith, owner of the Utah Jazz. “It’s about rallying behind this team. It’s about sharing experiences — sharing victories, losses, lessons learned, hard work and all the ups and downs of any great adventure. We are humbled and honored by Gail and her family’s decision to extend this stewardship to us. We are committed to the Miller’s vision, we are committed to Utah, and we are committed to the Jazz.”

Ryan Smith now serves as the NBA Governor of the Utah Jazz and its affiliates, and he has final decision-making authority for all business and basketball operations related to the team and other assets included in this transaction.

Mavericks waive Freddie Gillespie and Devonte Patterson

The Dallas Mavericks waived forwards Freddie Gillespie and Devonte Patterson today.

Gillespie (6-9, 245) appeared in Dallas’ preseason opener at Milwaukee (Dec. 12) and finished with two points and one rebound in six minutes.

Patterson (6-7, 205) played in two of the Mavericks’ three preseason contests and recorded three points and one assist in six minutes.

With preseason ending Saturday and the regular season starting Tuesday, teams around the NBA will steadily make player cuts in the next few days.

San Antonio Spurs hire Danny Ferry, Samson Kayode and Hao Meng

The San Antonio Spurs basketball operations staff made moves today, hiring Samson Kayode as Director of Player Evaluation/Austin Spurs Assistant GM, Hao Meng as Director of Strategic Analysis and Basketball Insight, and Danny Ferry as Basketball Operations Consultant.

In addition, Brendan Bowman has been promoted to Assistant Athletic Trainer, while Brandon Leibsohn has been elevated to Manager of Basketball Strategy.

Kayode spent the last four years as Assistant Director for the USA Basketball Men’s National Team, where he assisted in all facets but primarily focused on developing the Men’s Junior National Team program. Prior to joining USA Basketball, he spent two seasons from 2014-16 as the Video Coordinator for the Detroit Pistons after serving as a video intern for the Golden State Warriors from 2012-14. Kayode was the men’s basketball video coordinator at New Mexico State from 2010-12 while earning his master’s degree after getting his bachelor’s from Morgan State.

Meng joins the Spurs after spending the last seven-plus years at the NBA league office, most recently as Associate Vice President of Basketball Strategy and Analytics. He started with the NBA as a Manager of Team Finance in 2013 before being named Associate Director of Basketball Strategy in 2016. Prior to joining the league office, Meng worked as an investment banking financial analyst at Goldman Sachs for two years after graduating from Harvard in 2011.

Ferry most recently served as the Interim General Manager of the New Orleans Pelicans in 2019 after first being named a special advisor for New Orleans in 2016. The Duke alum served as General Manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2005-10 and President of Basketball Operations for the Atlanta Hawks from 2012-15. Ferry previously worked in San Antonio’s front office from 2010-12 and 2003-05 after he played his last three seasons in the NBA with the Spurs, culminating in an NBA Championship with the Silver and Black in 2003.

Bowman has been with San Antonio for the last three seasons, most recently serving as Medical Systems Assistant. He spent his first two seasons with the Spurs as a medical quality assurance assistant after spending a season as the Athletic Trainer for the Erie Bayhawks, the NBA G League affiliate of the Orlando Magic, in 2016-17. Bowman earned a master’s degree from Minot State in 2016 after graduating from Washington State in 2014.

Leibsohn stays with the Spurs after spending last season as a basketball operations quality assurance assistant. Prior to joining San Antonio, he worked as an associate at Hallier Lawrence law firm from 2015-19. Leibsohn interned in the legal department for the Milwaukee Bucks in 2012 while attending Marquette Law School, where he graduated in 2013 after earning a bachelor’s from Hamilton College (New York) in 2010.

Tim Hardaway Jr. interview after Mavs vs Timberwolves preseaon game

Postgame Tim Hardaway Jr. interview after Thursday’s Dallas Mavericks 129-127 preseason loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves:

On playing at home and in an empty arena:

“I mean it was fine. A lot of arenas are different when you are playing in them. LA, MSG, Brooklyn – the stands are dark so you can probably see the basket better. That is probably more similar to the bubble. Here and in Milwaukee the lights were on in the stands, so it was brighter. But it doesn’t matter. I am just happy that we are out here playing ball, and everyone is healthy.”

On his confidence level with this team going into the season:

“Very high. It shouldn’t be any less. We know what we have to do out there on the floor to be a productive playoff-caliber team. And it is on us to just go out there and execute. The coaching staff has done a hell of a job this whole training camp so far of preparing us and making sure we are on track and making sure everyone is focused. From a confidence standpoint it is really high. We have to take that on the road when we start next week.”

On his offensive aggressiveness:

“I feel like tonight I just tried to stay aggressive. You want to get your feet wet while you are at home and get used to the surroundings where there is no one in the arena. I just wanted to make sure I picked and chose my spots wisely and knocked down some shots. But we are not satisfied. We lost and we had the lead going into the fourth. I know that the starters and the rest of the guys weren’t happy with how we were playing the rest of the game. But in this league you just have to take every win. Everyone has to understand you take every win and every loss and learn from it. For me, it wasn’t enough.”

On Josh Richardson:

“J. Rich has been doing a great job from the start – keeping a positive attitude and keeping his mindset all about the team. He wants to win. He has come here with one goal and one goal only and that is to win and be in a playoff-loving team environment. So far he has done a heck of a job and is doing a great job of being a leader and a vocal leader out there.”

On the final three-pointer by Boban Marjanović:

“For Boban, it was a wide-open shot. He makes that shot so we were happy that he got that look. In and out probably says a lot about how the game went for us tonight on that end of the floor. A lot of easy and open ones that we wanted to go in and drop.”

NBA establishing load management rules, for national TV games and beyond

The NBA is reportedly working to minimize the effect load management has on fans. Via the New Orleans Times-Picayune:

Load management, they call it, is a player’s way of offsetting the grind of a grueling NBA season by taking a game off here or a game off there.

It’s good for the player but bad for the fans, which is why the NBA is doing its part this season to cut back on players missing games, particularly road games where fans of the home team get few chances to see visiting players.

The NBA sent a memo to teams this week updating its policy on resting players.

Teams shouldn’t rest multiple healthy players during the same game and teams should not rest healthy players for road games. And even more significant, teams can be fined $100,000 for resting healthy players for nationally televised games.

Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy, whose team plays 19 nationally televised games in the first half of the season, welcomes the league’s plan to appease its consumers.

“I think the thing we can never forget when you are in pro sports is that the people who make our league — I don’t care if it’s the NBA, the NFL, Major League Baseball — is the fans,” Van Gundy said. “Without the fans, we have no league. We have nobody buying TV rights. We have nothing without the fans. We need to respect those fans at all time.”

It makes sense that the league wouldn’t want star players to sit out of national TV games when they don’t have to. Televised games are usually a good matchup, which means that in addition to the TV audience, the game would be a hot ticket to attend.

Whatever the official rules turn out to be on this for 2020-21, there will likely be additional adjustments to load management-related rules in coming seasons.

Rockets beat Spurs 128-106, finish preseason with 3-1 record

ROCKETS NOTES

With the win tonight, the Rockets finish the preseason with a 3-1 mark. Going back to 2016, Houston has posted a preseason record of 20-6.

Houston scored a preseason-high 128 points, marking its second game with 120+ this preseason. The Rockets scored 120+ points 29 times last season (26-3 mark) and are 97-8 when doing so going back to 2016-17. Houston averaged 114.0 ppg this preseason.

The Rockets outshot the Spurs 52.7% to 40.9%. Houston was 25-3 when outshooting the opposition in 2019-20. The Rockets were 15-1 when shooting 50.0% or better last season and are 59-5 going back to 2016-17. Houston held opponents to 41.0% shooting this preseason.

Houston hit 17 3-pointers on 39.5% shooting tonight while San Antonio had 7 3FGM on 21.2% shooting. The Rockets were 24-1 when shooting 37.0% or better from behind-the-arc in 2019-20 and hit 10 or more 3-pointers than their opponent 11 times (11-0 mark). The opposition shot 30.4% from 3-point range this preseason.

The Rockets had 26 assists with 11 turnovers tonight after recording 38 assists with 36 turnovers the two games prior. Houston recorded 25+ assists in two of its four games this preseason. The Rockets had 25+ assists 18 times in 72 games played in 2019-20.

Christian Wood had a game-high 27 points with a game-high tying 10 rebounds in his preseason debut. He scored 20+ points 15 times for Detroit last season and recorded 12 double-doubles. Wood averaged 24.2 ppg and 9.8 rpg over his final games played for the Pistons last season.

James Harden had 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting tonight after having 12 points while shooting 3-of-10 in his preseason debut against the Spurs on 12/15. The Rockets were 21-5 when he shot 50.0% or better in 2019-20. Harden scored 32 points in 48 minutes of play this preseason. He had 2,335 points in 2,483 minutes of play in 2019-20.

Eric Gordon had 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-9 from 3-point range. He scored 20+ points six times during the 2020 playoffs after doing so six times in the regular season. Gordon shot 40.7% from 3-point range this preseason.

Bruno Caboclo led the Rockets bench with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting in 19 minutes of play. He averaged 9.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.8 apg and 1.8 bpg in 20.4 mpg this preseason. While playing for Memphis in 2018-19, Caboclo averaged 8.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.5 apg and 0.97 bpg in 23.5 mpg.

Dejounte Murray had 17 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists for the Spurs. He grabbed 10+ boards six times in 2019-20, including a career-high 14 in the season finale vs. Utah. Last season, Murray joined Alvan Adams (1985-86) as the only players in NBA history to have averaged at least 10.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg and 4.0 apg in fewer than 27.0 mpg in a single season.

Rockets sign forward Trey Mourning, son of Alonzo Mourning

The Houston Rockets have signed free agent forward Trey Mourning.

Mourning (6-9, 220) was eligible for the 2019 NBA Draft following his senior season at Georgetown. He spent last season playing for the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the NBA G League and shot 55.6% from the floor in 36 games. Mourning was also a member of Miami’s summer league roster in 2019.

While at Georgetown, Mourning wore the coveted No. 33 jersey which once belonged his father, Hall of Famer Alonzo Mourning. In his final season with the Hoyas 2018-19, Trey played for another one of Georgetown’s fabled big men, Patrick Ewing.

Houston Rockets will allow partial fan attendance at home games

FROM THE HOUSTON ROCKETS

In anticipation of the start of the 2020-21 NBA season and the goal to return with a limited number of fans and guests, the Houston Rockets and Toyota Center have established health and safety protocols to create a safe, yet fun environment for fans.

The Rockets and Toyota Center have developed the following protocols and guidelines in partnership with the City of Houston, the Houston Venue and Event Task Force, Memorial Hermann, and the NBA:

Reduced capacity will be enforced for Rockets games and all other arena events to allow for proper distancing between sets of guests.

Ticketed fans will be required to answer a series of health questions before entering the arena. Fans seated in close proximity to the court will require additional league mandated testing protocols.

Proper face masks will be required for ages 2 and up and must be worn at all times inside the arena, unless actively eating or drinking.

No bags are permitted, however lockers will be available for rent.
All tickets will be digital. Guests will manage and scan their touchless tickets through the Houston Rockets mobile app.

To promote social distancing and sanitization, floor markers and signs promoting social distancing and hand sanitization stations will be placed around the arena.

Frequent sanitization of all high touch surface areas during games and events such as seats, handrails, door knob, restrooms, countertops, etc.
All staff will receive additional health and safety training. In addition, staff will also have their temperature checked and will wear appropriate personal protective equipment.

All point of sales at Toyota Center will be cashless. Plexiglas barriers will be installed at all concession and retail stands to reduce direct contact between guests and staff. A touchless food and beverage ordering system option will allow fans to receive their orders at their designated seat to maximize social distancing and the overall fan experience.

Nets cut Kaiser Gates

The Brooklyn Nets have requested waivers on forward Kaiser Gates.

Gates had just signed with the Nets yesterday. This likely means we should not be surprised if Gates winds up playing for the team’s G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets, when that league resumes action.

The Nets roster now stands at 19 players.

Giannis Antetokounmpo signs massive contract extension with Milwaukee Bucks

Giannis Antetokounmpo yesterday signed a multi-year extension with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Per multiple reports, Giannis’ contract extension is a “supermax” deal for five years, $228 million.

“This is a big moment for me and my family and I want to thank the Bucks organization for believing in us,” said Antetokounmpo. “You took a chance on us eight years ago and now putting my signature on a contract like this is unreal – but it’s all because of hard work. This is my home and I’m going to continue working hard and do my best to make the Bucks, our fans and the city proud. Let’s have fun, win and make these years count.

“Giannis is a once in a generation player and we are beyond excited for him to remain with the Bucks,” said Bucks Co-Owners Marc Lasry, Wes Edens and Jamie Dinan. “Giannis positively impacts everyone around him on and off the court and he brings a staggering dedication to winning and leadership to our organization. His work ethic and desire to be the best epitomize what the Bucks stand for and what our future holds. We thank Giannis and his family for their long-term commitment to Milwaukee and we look forward to many years of success. This is a momentous day for the Bucks, our fans and the state of Wisconsin.”

“Giannis’ NBA career began as an 18-year old from the Sepolia neighborhood north of Athens, Greece,” Bucks General Manager Jon Horst said. “Through hard work, determination and an unequaled desire to be the best, Giannis has developed into a relentlessly driven, 26-year old, two-time Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year and four-time All-Star for the Milwaukee Bucks. He’s an incredible teammate, a kind and caring person, an affable member of the Milwaukee community, and the leader of our team who sets the tone for our organization. We are thrilled for Giannis and his family and are tremendously proud to sign him to this well-deserved contract extension.”