Why Salt Lake City? There were bigger towns with more hotels and entertainment options. There were places where it would’ve been easier to host an All-Star Weekend — or places where everyone could’ve played more golf than Utah in February. But Utah getting the game was very much a function of the friendship between Stern and then-owner Larry Miller, an ambitious man who had staked an NBA franchise where others said it couldn’t be done.
“To say we were surprised? Yeah, I’d say we were surprised,” said Grant Harrison, who was vice president of promotions and game operations at the time.