FILE - In this Jan. 23, 2017, file photo, a statue of Utah Jazz great John Stockton sits outside of the Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City. The Utah Jazz plan to submit a proposal to host the NBA All-Star game in either 2022 or 2023. The decision comes on the heels of a $125 million renovation to arena, that debuted at the beginning of this season. The 2023 game would be 30 years after the Jazz last hosted the All-Star Game in 1993. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
Standing in an area once known as Salt Lake City’s red-light district – well over a century ago – the home of the Utah Jazz remains one of the happiest places in the Beehive State. Now a year removed from a $125M renovation, Vivint Smart Home Arena is more vibrant and convivial than ever.
Interestingly, the first event held at the arena was a minor league hockey game between the Salt Lake Golden Eagles and the Peoria Rivermen; and its first concert was an Oingo Boingo show on Oct. 24, 1991. The Jazz didn’t pick up their first win there until a week later.
Vivint Smart Home Arena played host to the Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday.Jim Burton
Before Wednesday’s blowout victory over the Dallas Mavericks the Jazz owned an 0-4 record at Vivint this season. No team in the arena’s history ever began a season 0-4 and, in fact, the last Jazz team to start a season with a worse record was the 1974-75 New Orleans Jazz, who lost five consecutive home games, including one to the Buffalo Braves.
The oldest player on the Jazz roster, Thabo Sefolosha, wasn’t even born for another decade. Star guard Donovan Mitchell wouldn’t be born for another 21 years and 10 months.
The Jazz have been a strong home team for decades now, much of the credit going to their loud and loyal fanbase.
Longtime Jazz owner, the late Larry H. Miller, secured personal financing in order to build the arena – then known as the Delta Center – at a reported cost of $93M in 1991 (estimated at $174M in 2017 dollars). Considering it is 27-years-old, the arena is, impressively, among the crown jewels of downtown Salt Lake City and is certainly beloved by Jazz fans and players alike.
As part of the major renovation, the Jazz’s locker room was given an overhaul, the second such makeover since 2005.
Forward Derrick Favors is playing in his ninth season with the Jazz. He knew the old locker room.
“It’s a lot more spacious,” he said of the new digs. “A lot more, you could say, up-to-date. There’s a lot more room. I like the way the locker room is set up. I like the scenery from it. It looks better.”
Asked if the new locker room has had a positive effect on the team’s play, Favors said it has.
“They say if you look good, you play good,” he said. “It’s one of those things where you’ve got a state-of-the-art locker room it gives you confidence to go out and play good.”
Joe Ingles is in his fifth season in Utah. He too remembers the old locker room facility.
“It obviously comes down to the owners and how committed they are to this team and the franchise and the city,” Ingles said. “(It’s) not only here but in the whole arena and the practice facility, all of that stuff.”
Indeed, the team’s ownership also sprung for a renovation of the practice facility, once known as the Zions Bank Basketball Center but renamed the Zions Bank Basketball Campus.
“I would hope having a fancy locker room doesn’t change how we play or not, but it’s a pleasure to come to work every day in a place like this,” Ingles said.
Yes, all those renovations have been nice, but they don’t exactly set the Jazz apart from other teams around the league. Asked if he thought the new upgrades might attract more free agents to Utah, Favors said he didn’t think so.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I know a lot of teams in the league have pretty cool locker rooms. I don’t think a locker rooms plays into it that much.”
