Basketball is life — at least for this man

SALT LAKE CITY — You think you're having a tough time contemplating a winter without professional basketball in Utah.

Try being Grant Harrison.

Grant is the godfather of pro hoops in Utah. Nobody else comes close. Every basketball franchise that has called Salt Lake City home, he's been a part of. Currently he's vice president of operations and promotions for the Utah Jazz. Before that he was in the front office of the short-lived Salt Lake City Prospectors. And before that, when the Utah Stars of the American Basketball Association moved from Los Angeles in 1970 to give the state its first pro basketball team, Grant was one of the first local hires and stayed with the franchise until it expired five and a half seasons later.

For the past 41 winters, then, Salt Lake City has had a professional basketball team in residence in all but two and a half of them, and just one man has been a part of every single second: Grant.

And it all began so serendipitously.

In the spring of 1970, Harrison graduated with a marketing degree from the University of Utah. He was 25 years old, newly married and eager to find work.

Hearing that the Stars were coming to town, he drove to their headquarters at the Salt Palace and asked Vince Boryla, the team's general manager, for a job.

Boryla informed Grant they weren't hiring.

When Grant persisted, Boryla told him he could go out and sell season tickets strictly on commission. He'd get 10 percent of everything he sold.

A month later, Grant returned with orders for $6,000 worth of season tickets.

"You mean I have to write you out a check for $600!" Boryla said.

Grant nodded.

"Tell you what," said Boryla, "Instead, I'll put you on staff, give you a car, a salary of $400 a month, and in addition to sales, you can work on game operations."

He was in the door.

At the end of that first season, the Stars won the ABA championship, and Grant has the ring to prove it.

When the Stars folded in late 1975, he thought that might be it for him and the basketball business and started selling real estate. Two seasons later, when the Prospectors hired him but lasted just one season, it definitely seemed that was the end of the line. But then along came the Jazz in 1979, relocated from New Orleans, and he finally he had a basketball job with staying power.