A week from Sunday, the NBA playoffs will commence, with a big doubleheader of first-round games. Because Sunday is the showcase time, the prime time. (Want to bet that the Lakers and Cavaliers are involved even though other series will be more interesting?)
But you won’t see the Jazz on Sunday. Not according to team owner Greg Miller, who answers a fan-question mailbag on the Jazz site (via the Salt Lake Tribune).
“It is a business decision to not play home games on Sunday. We believe it would be very difficult to draw 19,911 fans to EnergySolutions Arena for a regular-season Sunday game, based on past experiences we have had with Sunday home games during the NBA playoffs.
“About the only way it would work was if the opponent were the Lakers, LeBron [James], or the Celtics.
“The Salt Lake Bees play between 10 to 12 Sunday home games each season, and our experience there has shown that Sunday attendance is about 50 percent less than other days of the week. Sundays are also slow for our Megaplex Theatres.”
The reason is the deep connection of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the area, commonly called the Mormons.
Personally, I couldn’t care less when the Jazz play as long as they don’t wear those green throwback uniforms.The Jazz have played some Sunday road games in recent years. Jazz star Deron Williams has been public in his support of Sunday games, because it helps spread out the days between games to give the team more rest.
But in the NBA, when it comes to rest for the players versus money, who wins? Exactly. And every time.
