Utah Jazz: In wheelchair, Jazz owner watches from familiar spot

Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller was in his normal place at EnergySolutions Arena — on the front row, across from the visitors' bench — for his team's preseason home debut on Thursday night. His actual seat, however, was different from what he's been accustomed to in his team's home arena since 1991.

Miller is still recovering from a heart attack and several other subsequent life-threatening complications and a long hospital stay related to his type-2 diabetes during the summer. He watched Thursday's 96-89 loss to the Phoenix Suns from a wheelchair.

Miller reported afterward, though, that he hopes to be able to walk on his own to his normal seat for games in the near future.

"I'm still probably three or four weeks away from getting out of the wheelchair," said Miller. "But, hopefully, it will be less than that. It may be longer, but I'm getting stronger everyday."

Miller turned over the day-to-day operations of his numerous businesses to his oldest son Greg during his long hospitalization this summer. Since getting released from the hospital, Miller has been working with a physical therapist and with his wife, Gail, on a daily basis at home to recover his strength.

"I said on the way to the game to Gail that I'm not ready for the season to start," Miller said. "Still, it was good to be there and see all the energy of the young players and to be back at a setting that is so familiar and feel pretty good doing it.

"I guess we're off and running whether we are ready or not."

Miller still made his usual visits to the Jazz locker room before the game, at halftime and after the game on Thursday night.

"It's always refreshing at the start of the season when hopes are high and, in our case, we have a lot of youthful legs still," said Miller. "Just to be out there and to go in the locker room before the game and then at halftime, it was good for the familiarity and the surroundings and the energy. It was fun to be with (the players), and they had warm welcomes, which was nice."

Miller, who was well known throughout his many businesses as being very hands-on, has said that he's been able to sit back and let Greg and others take care of things the past several months.

"I'm still finding plenty to keep me busy, partly from projects I had going before my heart attack and partly from some new things," Miller said. "I've got to be careful not to let my schedule get too full again."

The somewhat slower pace has been a welcome change for the Jazz owner.

"I am enjoying life and not having all the pressures that were there everyday," he said.

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E-mail: lojo@desnews.com