Ronnie Price remembered

With the Jazz signing Jamal Tinsley and Keith McLeod, it appears the Ronnie Price era in Salt Lake is over.

OK, maybe you wouldn’t want to call it an era. He wasn’t a big enough factor for that. He was always an athletic, tough player who had an odd skill set that made him neither an ideal point guard nor shooting guard.

But the man could certainly dunk.

Price is said to be headed to Phoenix. Good for him. He was one of the nicest Jazz players ever, always pleasant and well spoken. I saw Price at several places outside of ESA and he was always friendly and polite — not the sort of thing you could say about a lot of NBA players (are you listening, Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams?)

I remember a number of Price’s acrobatic dunks, such as this one when he was with the Kings:

Almost as clearly, though, I remember running into him on the sidelines at the Utah-Michigan game at the Big House in 2008. He seemed positively thrilled to be down there on the sidelines as the Utes beat the Wolverines. I asked him what he was doing there; he said he just enjoyed watching Utah football. I also saw him in an couple of airports waiting for flights. He was unfailingly nice.

Wherever he goes, Price will be a popular teammate and player. The fans will love him. But besides that, the guy is flat out entertaining. Filling secific spots? He’s in a sort of strange place. But entertaining? The guy has been doing that since college at UVU.