Larry H. Miller

SALT LAKE CITY - Larry H. Miller, the car sales mogul who bought the Utah Jazz when they were a fledgling franchise in the NBA's smallest market and helped turn them into one of the league's most stable teams, died Friday. He was 64. Miller died of complications from type 2 diabetes, the team said in a statement. He was at home and with his family, the statement said. Miller had a heart attack in June 2008, then spent nearly two months in the hospital for complications from diabetes that nearly killed him. He was in a wheelchair after his release from the hospital and his medical problems continued, leading to the amputation of his legs six inches below the knee in January. A tireless worker with a knack for the most minute details, Miller started his career in an auto parts shop, then built a car dealership empire that made him one of Utah's most recognized and influential people. Miller expanded his realm in 1985 when he bought a 50 percent share of the Jazz as the team appeared on the verge of moving to Miami. Miller bought the rest of the team a year later, declining an offer that would have sent the team to Minnesota, and the team in the smallest media market in the NBA flourished and made two straight appearances in the NBA finals in 1997 and 1998.