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As I was watching the Utah Jazz’s NBA Cup game against the Oklahoma City Thunder last Friday at the Delta Center, I noticed a woman seated in the family section (where the players’ families usually sit, near the Jazz’s locker room tunnel). My eyesight isn’t great and I was on the other side of the arena so I couldn’t quite make out exactly who it was.
Even though the face wasn’t clear, I couldn’t take my eyes off this woman. She was demonstrating a level of concentration during an NBA game that was remarkable. It wasn’t the on-court product that she was focused on, it was a thick novel in her lap. The din of nearly 20,000 people didn’t seem to deter her. Erupting cheers, jeers, music, the in-arena host growling at high decibels — none of it seemed to matter.
Who was she? And what was she reading?! I had to know.
Some quick reconnaissance in the locker room after the game and the truth was revealed. It was Verna, Lauri Markkanen’s wife. He got her on FaceTime and she showed me the book she had with her. Oh just a little classic Russian literature. Some light reading of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, that’s all.
A woman after my own heart. What a legend.
Turns out that Verna was child-free on a Friday night, and there just so happened to be the opportunity for the mother-of-three to not only be in the building to support her husband, but also have some well-deserved me-time.
As someone who studied literature for many years and has a deep passion for stories, but whose life is tied to basketball, I’ve often thought about how much basketball is one of my favorite art forms and how much it really does have in common with the literature that I love.
It’s poetic and dramatic and graceful and can lead to glory or despair. It can be comedy, tragedy, show passion, love, violence, discipline and so much more. It’s why I love writing about basketball.
And then, on a Friday night at the Delta Center, there was a woman who was showing me a new side to this art that I love. As the beauty and poetry of the game surrounded her, she was lost in a different world of dramatic prose, tragedy and love. And I realized that every one of the nearly 20,000 people in the building were lost in their own stories or making new ones.
Whether they were on a date, making memories with friends and family, seeing an NBA game for the first time, seeing an NBA game for the 100th time, trying new food and drinks, supporting loved ones, or even reading a book — it was all part of the beautiful story on that night, in that building.
New with the Jazz
From the archives
Extra points
- Ace Bailey continues to find his footing with the Jazz (Deseret News)
- More evidence of Keyonte George’s maturity in Jazz loss to Lakers (Deseret News)
- Will Hardy wants to prioritize development but not at the cost of a culture of winning (Deseret News)
Around the league
- OKC’s Jalen Williams to make season debut, returning from wrist surgery.
- Celtics beat Pistons and Detroit’s win streak ends at 13.
- NBA Cup standings and results.
Up next
- Nov. 28 | 7:30 p.m. MST | Utah Jazz vs. Sacramento Kings | KJZZ
- Nov. 30 | 1 p.m. MST | Utah Jazz vs. Houston Rockets | KJZZ
- Dec. 1 | 7 p.m. MST | Utah Jazz vs. Houston Rockets | KJZZ
- Dec. 4 | 5:30 p.m. MST | Utah Jazz @ Brooklyn Nets | KJZZ
- Dec. 5 | 5:30 p.m. MST | Utah Jazz @ New York Knicks | KJZZ