Jazz owner calls Ace Bailey ‘humble, grateful & excited’ to be in the NBA 🤝 | The Pat McAfee Show

Jazz owner calls Ace Bailey ‘humble, grateful & excited’ to be in the NBA 🤝 | The Pat McAfee Show

you know is in the middle of a lot of action right now obviously Qualrix when you’re talking about surveying and accounting and everything like that best in Abyss only one name comes to mind qual boom great business mhm so good it’s been sold multiple times it’s crazy for billions of dollars each time the person that did that said “Well I’m like 40 years old now love sports what should I do?” Oh I’m gonna buy my hometown NBA team the Utah Jazz becomes an owner of the Utah Jazz obviously brings in Danny A from the Boston Celtics tries to build up a winner in his city then also he says you know I love this state what would this state need what would be great for this state all hockey team so then he starts petitioning the NHL hey whenever a team is either going up for expansion or for sale we would like to be a part of it i think my state the one that I’m from would be a wonderful host city of an NHL team and I think we would show up for you you got it team goes up for sale in Phoenix bang all of a sudden now he owns an NHL team and an NBA team and he’s under the age of 50 ladies and gentlemen a self-made billionaire with a great team around him an owner of an NBA team and an NHL team a guy who’s living out a lot of lot of dudes dreams in America and has remained a human somehow i don’t know how that works ladies and gentlemen Ryan Smith hey what’s up guys that last question shoe collection so out reach okay we messoku uh 2a t uh extraordinaire uh defeat covers i don’t know how you say shoes yeah uh your shoe collection is outrageous you know that that is beautiful right there that is wonderful how often do we change those out are they always the same spot no it’s great i always change it out like if I just show up and I’m like not feeling what’s what I’m rocking on the feet I just look around and there’s something something there it’s But are they always all in the same spots or do some people get kicked off the team like hey I’ll tell you what third row up on the left side 15th shoe in i haven’t worn these in three years take them off the damn brack they don’t deserve a spot anymore we need to put some new bad boys up here is there any We need some Crocs up here actually what’s actually happening is I find that they’re disappearing people will come in and then like walk out with a pair of kicks and I’m like “All right we got to find something else there.” Zo said in the back that is classic Big Jay there he’s going right to the top there big Jay’s going right to the top no doubt about it okay thank you for joining us um great night last night for the Utah Jazz i assume that’s how the entire organization feels danny A obviously genius over there you bring in uh so many big brains into every business that you do it feels like you are okay delegating power to other people and trusting the ride how was the room last night whenever you end up with Ace Bailey at five outrageously talented player who may have said that he didn’t want to go to Utah i don’t know if that was just on the internet but that was kind of being speculated and then Walter Clayton Jr the guy of March Madness had to feel like a great night for the Utah Jazz ryan is that accurate yeah it it truly was i mean um I think I think we brought in Austin A couple weeks ago and he came out for the press conference from Boston and didn’t leave actually he has not left to go back home to to back up or anything he has been heads down and I think a couple weeks ago he said “If we can walk out of this draft with Ace Bailey and Walter Clayton that’s exactly what we want to do.” And um the team executed on exactly what they wanted okay so whenever the chatter about Ace Bailey happens as the owner of the team I assume that is something that you have to take into account uh especially in the modern era of sports what is kind of your thoughts on that particular narrative about Ace uh at five to Utah with everything that’s been said leading up to the draft i mean look I think our philosophy and where we’re at as a team is we want to take the best player on the board and and we love Ace um I got a chance to talk to Ace and Walter last night and you know all I saw was a kid who was humble he was grateful he was excited um to to be in the NBA um and I think that’s all you can ask for from from our standpoint i mean naturally probably doesn’t have a lot of experience out west here with Utah that’s our job to go make him love it um I just I’m confident in our state i know that you know he’ll feel loved like he’s never felt before people are fired up to have him and reality is there’s nothing that that Ace and others can’t accomplish here and so I think we’ve seen that um with the NBA Finals this year you guys have felt that love you were along for a hell of a ride with with Indie and OKC and um he’s going to do great he’s going to do great and he’s got a young coach who’s fired up about him um you know he’s got a lot of really smart people around i mean with DA who’s been in the league 46 years um with a with a group of veterans on our team that are also incredibly unselfish and I think that’s really important so he gets a chance to learn but everyone wants this guy to succeed and so we couldn’t be more excited hell yeah and as I was watching and reading that narrative kind of take place on the internet and I don’t think it was just Utah I didn’t want to I think there was multiple places you know I think it was like considered a conversation about Ace leading up i’m like there’s no way he’s ever been to Utah ace I want to let you know and you and I obviously not same people uh I had little to no expectation of Utah just I’m just going to uh let’s keep it a buck uh how it will going out to Utah i was planning on uh doing show hotel room show plane get me the hell out of here okay get me the hell out of here you invited me to a game which is very kind hey the owner of the Utah Jazz would like you to come to a Utah Jazz game tonight i can’t can’t do that i I got a big schedule big things planned and then uh I think ZTO was like “Hey you should look up who the owner of the Utah Jazz is.” I looked it up i saw you and I was like “This is not what I expected out of the Utah Jazz owner at all.” I looked into your story i looked into how you treat people i looked into everything and I was like “Oh I’d love to go hang with this guy.” And what we got a chance to do is experience Utah walked around downtown got a chance to go out we saw the people we saw the building we experienced everything about it it’s like “This place is amazing.” We we thought about picking up and moving there like that was that was where we’re at let alone the views and everything else and I think obviously conservative is a word that is thought about Utah but I I think people automatically assume that’s boring it’s like I don’t think your city was boring at all like I think we had a great time out there you know no a lot of times in life I think the picture in our head can can actually lead us into a really weird spot and it actually limits all the opportunity that’s in front of us i mean growing up as a kid I never thought I would be in enterprise software like that picture of the head just didn’t seem what it is um you know I’ll never forget D wade’s quote right when we you know obviously were hoping for you know the draft lottery and everything came out and you know his quote right away is like hey there’s been a lot of killer players picked at number five you know back at where he was and so I think look it’s natural for people to be uncomfortable i think you went down the entire draft board and you’re like okay where’s everyone’s preferred destination it’s probably not the right move for them where they think it is in their head because everything I’ve had in my life that’s good it has never been the picture I had in my head it’s actually always kind of uncommon sense where it comes out and it’s like “Oh that don’t make sense.” And all you want is the ability to accomplish everything and not be held back and that’s what that’s what all these guys are going to get in Utah let’s not talk about this and by the way And by the way I mean like this this little this little view yeah like if that’s not good for your mental to get locked in to go to go reach up for something where the air is thin i I don’t know what else like like we’re we’re in the picture business here yeah you postcards postcards brother a lot of those um yeah you got the mountains in a mountain uh resort view on one side then you got 2,000 pairs of Jay’s on the other side utah utah baby lake over there we got a basketball operation a great lake yeah it is a great It’s not a great lake great lakes are on our side of the country yeah exactly okay let’s make Yeah please homes brother homes thank you no problem that’s Michigan right there that’s right i’ll shout out to Erie too you know one fishing up Baron Lake area superior is a big sunk that’s a big That’s a great lake right there ontario and Hur on though they hold up their end of the bargain because you can’t spell homes a hoe right there that’s right so that’s why we got the Great Lakes on our side you understand it Ryan you got good lakes over there you got good lakes you got good salt all right let’s move on let’s move on i think Ace is going to love Utah is all I’m saying and I think you’re like uh if I was going to be a professional athlete you would be the owner that I would or style of owner that I would want to play you are fully invested on that note Ty has a question for you yeah Ryan how difficult is it having to kind of split your time with obviously when you have the draft you have all that prep and then you’re also looking at different acquisitions and different players to bring in and on the flip side of it you also have to address everything going on with the mammoth like I know you’ve said to us you’re not really that uh the hands-on guy who’s going to be involved in every every decision and want your fingerprint all over it but how difficult is it really kind of uh properly dividing your time between both of your teams when you’re trying to make both teams better before next season yeah it’s like a it’s like a twoame parlay you’re trying to you’re trying to hit it all every night like it’s it’s hard i think I think just like your guys’ world you gota you got to pick your spots and you got to try to figure out how it all works there’s no real playbook i think people ask you like “Hey how are you going to be?” So you know last night was an interesting one i’m in that draft room right there right like what what is my role there and my role in my mind is is very simple i’m there to support them like I’ve never seen a business that has so much revisionist history um because every organization last night with 30 picks all were clapping for the guy that they got we got our guy and then 5 years from now everyone’s going to look back and be like I can’t believe we didn’t get the guy one up or one below or we got luck we we were lucky and my role here is to let Austin know and DA and coach we’re riding and dying together i’m in it with you there’s going to be no revisionist history we’re making that decision we’re going to be in it together i’m going to look back i was in the room and I’m here to support you we’re going to win some we’re going to lose some we’re going to be aggressive i’d rather have you swinging you know we’ve never had a championship in Utah we’re not going to tiptoe into that um we’re going to miss some that’s fine but I want you to know that that I’m here in that hard moment to validate i’m not in there telling them how to do their job although last night it was interesting because I’m sitting at that table we’re in the middle of my phone rings and everyone’s phones ringing on the clock and everything and they’re like “Who why are you taking a call?” And it was you know it was it was Terry Pagula from the Sabres going “Hey there’s a hockey deal going on right now are you involved in this is this for real what’s going on?” That’s him and and and I was like “Yeah I think this is going.” Everyone’s kind of looking at me going like “Why aren’t you on the call?” It’s like “Hey like like don’t worry about it.” But like you just kind of blend it all together and then my family’s sitting back there and our friends are there like like there’s no real separation it’s just pulling it all into one organization i think that’s one of the benefits we have in Utah where we we do have the same ownership structure in both organizations it is the same arena and and it’s easy to kind of put on one broader hat and hire really smart people that my job is to support and get out of their way but also let them let them do the job let them feel comfortable let them take the risk and know that it’s a safe place and you know we’re not expecting perfection knowing that your owner is invested financially and also wanting to win is a huge deal for the fan base i assume the Jazz and the Mammoth have fans have told you that but also hiring smart people and letting them do their job and execute their vision is also something all fans want their owners to do now let’s talk about the people that you’ve hired bill Armstrong over there for the Mammoth right ain’t that accurate he’s the GM that did the deal whenever Pagoula called you and said “Hey are you in on this?” I got Bill Armstrong what do you talk to Bill Armstrong there people around the hockey world say “Great trade for the Utah Mammoth.” Now granted I think you signed him to a deal immediately and some people were questioning the contract details whatever that is but getting JJ to your team I think everybody in the hockey world was like “Good move how do you feel about the move?” And uh what should we view how should we view the mammoth over the next few years yeah so I mean first of all this is bittersweet because Castle Ring and Don are amazing humans and and you know they’re both they’re both young and you know it’s obviously what what Buffalo wanted um I think we we I mean I think to take a next step for us it you know we need a little bit more scoring on that front line we got a left winger um and now we have four guys on our team under the age of 26 that are 60 point guys um and and hopefully it gets better you know three of them are under 23 i think that’s really encouraging if I look out for for the mammoth um but once again you know you know Cass and and Donor were huge in our first season um they handled the transition the move they rallied there you know there’s a lot of leaders on these teams and so it’s a little bittersweet but um you know it’s a move we got to make and and you know when it was brought to me with with the recommendation it was it was something that that we were pretty excited about just because of the potential and the upside of of filling that that was one of our big offseason desires and to have it come i don’t think we we saw it coming this way but um I think it’s good news for for for Mammoth fans and you know I’ve looked into it a little bit there’s good years ahead i’ve looked into it a little bit they talked about the money that JJ is getting now and I thought about you as an owner you know and I don’t remember if we’ve ever chatted about it but the NBA money and the NHL money is crazy sydney Crosby just signed for $8.7 million a year okay $8.7 million that’s like uh three weeks pay for some of the NBA guys you know and I’m not saying that it isn’t worth warranted like you get whatever you need you get whatever money you can get but for you has that been an interesting experience in the NHL like hey I am used to spending money on the most valuable assets of the entire franchise which is the players has that been interesting for you with Bill Armstrong i mean it’s all within a cap system um and I think you know we’ve got you know we brought Bill in we hired Chris Armstrong so we have two two Armstrongs that are in there two Angels two Armstrongs yep two Armstrongs two Angels they’re not related though but like Chris Chris is someone that I’ve worked for with for a long time and you know I would say his job as president one of his jobs is to get me really comfortable and then work with Bill together and to say “Hey you know how’s this going to play out?” I mean we we still don’t even have a full arena yet from a seating standpoint and we’re under massive renovation right there there’s a video out there i mean we’re trying to do something that really hasn’t been done from um a basketball hockey arena to make it super intimate like we have in Hoops which you guys have seen but also have it be able to almost expand like an accordion for for hockey in most arenas when’s that how that’s going to take two years to build what you’re doing yeah it’s going to be it’s going to be 2 years but there’s there’s new technology with seating where it’s almost like you can press a button and it’s like hey go to two come back to one as opposed to most arenas start off wide and then they come in for kind of that moment we want to stay in the the best most intimate basketball arena in the NBA but be able to press a button and kind of go out to to maintain that same intimacy for hockey and so we’ve been working on this that’ll be full um but we’re we’re trying to be aggressive but also plan for the future we’re very very close we were close to getting to the playoffs this year um and and honestly it was it was pretty storybook to Yeah i mean the second the season end we put a crane on that floor and it’s not coming out till till the second we start i mean it’s it’s pretty massive what we’re doing here yeah it feels like it’s a mammoth it’s a mammoth under Tuska [Applause] did you Did you walk in there with your hard hat on did you do the whole hard hat photo shoot oh you’re not going in there you’re not going in there without without hard hat and uh Yeah but did you do that did you do the photo shoot with the scissors on the thing to break ground or the shovel to break ground did you do that whole thing i’m going to be honest by the time the season was over that thing was gated and and we just move fast in Utah no you got to just You got to do the shovel thing you we just we just went no we’ll do a shovel when we kick it off and you guys are there hosting opening night when that thing’s done but you know look I think I I I had uh an interview or reporter question from Canadian television asked me once how I thought about the cap going up in hockey yes and like oh it was going up 10% or what was going to happen and I was like as opposed to what i mean we’re kind of used to that in the NBA where where it kind of increases at a level which is a big jump but look I mean what the NHL is doing and where it’s going um you guys are seeing that you guys covered it you were early to the beat there um it’s on a heater it’s absolutely on a heater and I I don’t see this thing slowing down because the world very very easily relates to the teamwork and what they’re seeing on the ice and the way they go and you know even the celebrations like we’re watching and and it’s it’s it’s a pretty cool thing to be a part of and to be able to bring that to Utah um you know it’s probably one of the the coolest things I’ve ever been a part of yeah i’m happy you’re getting part of the hockey world you know like I I think you wanted to bring a hockey team to Utah cuz you knew Utah would love a hockey team like I think that’s what you did then I think as you started learning about hockey more and more you know it started feeling like you started becoming like “Oh this is a sport that I’m very very much uh love and in have a lot in common with because how about them just fighting how about it?” Like it’s so old school in there like “Hey you you want to disrespect my friend sweet i will see you center ice in about two periods so we will handle this entire thing and then the speed and the the t it’s it’s a fantastic sport you’re And then they’re taking one night off and playing again you’re like “Wait a minute shouldn’t they just play next Sunday?” No no no we got 84 games coming allegedly now on that note caller has a question for you yeah Ryan new proposed CBA for the NHL patrick mentioned it 84 game season uh the max six-year deals for free agents no dress codes no dress codes which is ridiculous let the boys put sandals on Ryan yeah please the long-term IR which has been a very uh uh kind of priority for some of these teams to win is to use that long-term IR i know people in Florida were upset because Eblad goes on the 20 game suspension they get new players it happened with the Golden Knights it’s happened with the Tampa Bay Lightning with Cooerov it’s happened forever and that’s another thing they’re thinking about changing what is kind of the main things of this new proposed CBA is it locked in for 84 games here and what do you think how’s it going to change the game yeah and like I don’t know how it’s all going to uh uh kind of shake out but I you know right when I came in I I had like three or four different owners and managers of the NHL call and be like “Dude we got to keep the suits the dress code’s got to stay the way it is.” Really i know you’re I know you’re a big hoodie guy but like don’t don’t like we got one thing and I’ve actually grown to love the suits like I love the look i love the culture you know it’s game time you know when it’s coming um there’s something about it right and and so we we’ll see how it all I I’m sure it’s a lot of work for the guys but um we’ll see how all this shakes out i mean 84 games um it’s incredible it’s incredible what they do how physical it is you know diving in front of pucks doing that i mean it’s it’s you know these are real athletes and and and they they go hard and they go a lot and um I think you know we’re we’re going to see um you know I think they’re in the middle of it where you know it’s kind of a a template and and we’ll see where it all shakes out i mean I can’t comment too much on it got it okay because whenever I read this on the thing on the bottom of the photo it said major potential changes in next NHL NHL PACBA but then in the tweet it says could be announced tomorrow per Frank Caveoli so then so it’s kind of conflicting like if this is potential but then it could be announced tomorrow that sounds like there’s an agree to terms then if that’s Yeah we haven’t voted on anything yet okay all right that’s good piece of information all right so we haven’t voted on anything we’re getting close we’ll see how it all shakes out whatever the case hockeyy’s going to remain awesome and we appreciate how great of an owner you have been uh for the Utah Jazz and the Mammoth thus far and how cool you’ve been to us we appreciate the hell out of you no you guys are awesome congrats on all the success fellas and uh congrats on the run in Indie man it was fun watching it was How about Simon he was the man i wanted one for Herby a little bit i’m not going to lie like I ran into him backstage uh or back court I guess you would call it hm in the bottom tunnel in the tunnel of the arena after we won the Eastern Conference Finals I think and he was just walking smiling they were on his way somewhere and uh just in a suit coat you know sport coat walking happy has like glasses they might be sunglass glasses or whatever tinted glasses a little bit he’s walking through and I go “Mr simon my name’s uh Pat McAfee congratulations.” Or whatever he goes “Pat thank you.” And I said “Uh congratulations man.” I was like “Can I get a selfie with He goes “Absolutely.” And he turns me and my wife take a selfie with him and he goes “All right I’m going to go celebrate.” And he turns around walks away i’m like “This this guy he’s awesome he’s He’s older that’s That’s my guy that’s my guy.” Like every all-star I I just like I sit next to Herb and I was like “You are a G you are like he’s 90 years old and like he just wants to hang.” And I’m I’m I want as much time with that guy as I can get what a what an amazing human hall of Famer super vibes out of that guy i mean like super vibes not just like kind of he’s 90 it was like this guy is amazing all right

Owner of the Utah Jazz of the NBA and Utah Mammoth of the NHL, Ryan Smith, joins The Pat McAfee Show after Round 1 of the 2025 NBA Draft.

0:00 Welcome Ryan Smith!
2:04 Shoes on the wall
2:58 Drafting Ace Bailey & Walter Clayton Jr.
6:30 Beauty of Utah
9:37 Splitting time between teams
13:21 Trading for JJ Peterka
16:40 Arena upgrades
19:52 Changes to the NHL CBA

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