Jazz assistant coach inspires custom-designed Nike shoes for World Autism Month

During NBA games this week, viewers and spectators will notice head coaches wearing custom-designed Nike shoes.

An important message accompanies those shoes: the coaches are supporting World Autism Month in April through a concerted effort from Utah Jazz assistant coach Scott Morrison and his wife Susanne, whose son Max was diagnosed with autism in 2022.

"Before the season started, we just knew that we wanted to do something to try and help or contribute," Morrison told USA TODAY Sports. "And we had the idea to just maybe tap into the handful of coaches that I knew just to see who would be interested in wearing the shoes as a way to put highlight autism."

Some shoes will be auctioned and proceeds will go to the Morrisons’ To the Max Foundation which will assist autistic children and their families.

"What we want to do is really help the individuals and families directly," Susanne said. "This journey can be a really rewarding one and really beautiful, but it can be really tough and the challenges and needs change so frequently."

Scott Morrison thought maybe he could get a handful of assistant coaches involved. "It was just a small-time thing," he said.

But the idea grew. Jazz director of basketball intelligence Charles Terrell, who used to work at Nike, helped procure the shoes. And another Jazz staffer asked what all the shoes were for, telling Morrison there’s a prominent custom shoe artist, John Millar, based in Salt Lake City who could help with the design.

Morrison reached out to National Basketball Coaches Association David Fogel, who recommended contacting every head coach. Morrison and Fogel sent the coaches an email explaining the idea. They all agreed.

The effort will garner significant exposure during games April 2-7, including a handful of nationally televised games.

"Hopefully it goes well and it’s something that maybe can be annual or some version of it can be annual," Morrison said. "And then we'll look to try and add different projects as we go. But this was the first one that came to mind and that motivated us to get the foundation going. So far it's been well received and the foundation will be highlighted in the shoes a little bit, but that wasn't really necessarily the point of it. Just anything to get attention for autism acceptance is the goal."

Autism Spectrum Disorder "is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain," and one in 36 children and one in 45 adults are affected by autism, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"ASD begins before the age of 3 years and can last throughout a person’s life, although symptoms may improve over time," the CDC says. "Some children show ASD symptoms within the first 12 months of life. In others, symptoms may not show up until 24 months of age or later. Some children with ASD gain new skills and meet developmental milestones until around 18 to 24 months of age, and then they stop gaining new skills or lose the skills they once had."

The Morrisons began learning about Max’s diagnosis about two years ago when they were in Australia where Scott was the head coach of the Perth Wildcats.

Autism is diagnosed around 5 years old in the U.S., and signs appear around 2 or 3, according to autismspeaks.org. That’s when Susanne and Scott began notices changes that were subtle at first and become more apparent over time. Around the time of the diagnosis, they noticed regression in development.

"I do feel comfortable saying, for instance, he used to use a lot of gestures," Susanne said. "He would wave and he would blow kisses and he would point, so if you said 'Max, show me the cow in the book,' he did all of those things. And there's doctors to this day that don't believe me that he used to do those things until I show them a video."

The Morrisons prefer to focus now on what Max, 4, can do. "He is the most special little soul," Susanne said. "When people meet him, they are so drawn to him and his energy. … He doesn't speak, he has some emerging speaking skills, but he lets you know and he communicates in so many other ways, and he's just so sweet and he's so cuddly and loving and he has the cutest sense of humor."

The Morrisons know firsthand the issues families face. They experienced them in Australia where waiting lists to see specialists were long, and health insurance was a barrier. It was Morrison’s first season there in 2021-22. He had been an assistant with the Boston Celtics on Brad Stevens’ staff, but when Stevens stepped aside and hired Ime Udoka, the new coach hired Will Hardy who specializes in offense like Morrison. Morrison, the 2014-15 G League Coach of the Year, realized he would not be retained. He took the job with Perth.

It was also during the pandemic and circumstances weren’t ideal, especially when Morrison’s team was relocated across the country to play games. Following appointments with doctors, Susanne began navigating autism and trying to get the best care for Max.

Maybe it wasn’t obvious at first, but signs kept pointing to Utah. Susanne knew former NBA player Aron Baynes’ wife, Rachel, from Aron’s time with the Celtics, and she put Susanne in touch with Renae Ingles, the wife of NBA player Joe Ingles. The Ingles’ son, Jacob, is autistic, and Renae provided a roadmap for the Morrisons.

"Renae is such a powerhouse of a human," Susanne said. "She was the first autism mom that I spoke to. And it was like, 'OK, she gets it.' And she was such a wealth of knowledge. She gave me courses I could take and I'll always just be so grateful for her because she was the perfect person I could have talked to at that time too."

It took time and discussions to figure out their next move, and they decided it was best to return to North America to get Max the care he needed. That meant Scott would leave a job in Australia for no guaranteed job in the U.S. or Canada, where Scott was born.

"I just looked at Scott, and I said, 'I know this sounds insane, but I'm just so tired and so exhausted and I just talked to this Renea Ingles and I know that she's getting the best care for her kid and I just want to go to Utah. I just feel like she knows what to do,'" Susanne said. "I said those very words."

But Scott didn’t have a job in Utah, at least not yet. They made the decision to return to North America and live in Prince Edward Island, where Scott was born. Before the 2022-23 season began, Morrison received a call from Hardy who had been hired as the Jazz’s head coach, asking if Morrison had interest in coaching the Jazz’s G League team.

Salt Lake City and Utah have considerable autism resources, including schools. At the Jazz’s Delta Center, there is a sensory room for those on the spectrum to get a reprieve from the sights, sounds and crowd in the arena and the room "focuses on stimulating or calming a specific sense." The room The Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake offers "Sensory friendly Saturdays" when the planetarium "will adjust lights and sounds throughout the free exhibit area to facilitate a safe, welcoming, fun environment for those with sensory sensitivities." The Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum of Utah offers a similar program.

"Scott and I get so emotional just in general that we're here and that life took a turn, but it led us here," Susanne said. "It just seems that people are interested and want to learn more. And I think that that's incredible. We just want to make this world a better place for Max and other autistic individuals."