Skip to main content

Taylorsville Journal

NBA D-League Coming to Taylorsville

Jun 15, 2016 10:35AM ● By Jessica Thompson

Mayor Larry Johnson gears up for the Salt Lake City Stars to come to Utah – Taylorsville City

By Jessica Thompson | [email protected]


The Utah Jazz recently relocated their NBA D-League team, the Idaho Stampede, to Salt Lake City. The team will now be known as the Salt Lake City Stars, and they are coming to Taylorsville. This new Utah team will play their home games at Salt Lake Community College’s 5,000-seat Lifetime Activities Center-Bruins Arena just off of Redwood Road. 

“The Stars coming to Taylorsville is exciting. Having them play in SLCC’s Arena will bring additional visitors from outside of Taylorsville to eat and shop. It will be a good economic boost,” Mayor Larry Johnson said.    

The teams name pays tribute to its American Basketball Association heritage from the 1970-76 when the Utah Stars won the league championships in 1971. The name also pays homage to the Utah Starzz WNBA team based in Salt Lake City from 1997-2002. The Stars logo is again a gesture to the community’s basketball history. The logo features a SLC monogram at its center to represent the city they play in. The monogram is inside a navy basketball, which is encircled by a gold star. The team’s colors are navy and gold which are also shared with the Jazz to reinforce the partnership between the two teams.

The Utah Jazz purchased the Boise-based Idaho Stampede in March of 2015 and became the eighth NBA team with full control over an NBA D-League team’s business and basketball operations. Before the purchase of the Idaho team, the Jazz and Stampede had entered into a single affiliation agreement for the 2014-15 seasons. Four different players have been assigned to the D-League since the Jazz entered a single affiliation in 2014. Players on the current Jazz roster with D-League experience are Rudy Gobert, Chris Johnson, Shelvin Mack and Tibor Pleiss.  

Utah Jazz assistant general manager Justin Zanik will continue to coordinate all basketball operations for the Stars as he did for the Stampede. Zanik joined the organization in 2013 under Dennis Lindsey, Utah Jazz general manager, after being involved in all aspects of athlete representation for 15 years.

The NBA D-League was launched in 2001, and has grown from an eight-team league to a record 22 teams for the 2016-17 season. All 19 teams for the 2015-16 season are singly affiliated with an NBA parent club, a first for the NBA D-League, and the three teams joining the NBA D-League for 2016-17 are owned by the Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls.

The Salt Lake City Stars will begin playing in the
2016-17 season and will host a 24-game home schedule between November and April. Season ticket prices start as low as $3.25 per game. 

 “Taylorsville residents will be given a great sport close to home to enjoy, with costs being affordable. They will be able to feel part of the team. And some of the players may even live in our city. Community Members can welcome our new team, support them, and get them involved in our community. This is exciting news for the City of Taylorsville,” Mayor Larry Johnson said. 

Fans interested in purchasing Salt Lake City Stars season tickets can visit www.slcstars.com for information or call
801-355-DUNK to place a $50 deposit to gain season-ticket priority. You can also follow the team @slcstars on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. 

Follow the Taylorsville Journal on Facebook!