Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated did an in-depth piece to look at how black Utah Jazz players have embraced Salt Lake City. Spears spoke to players, both past and present, to find out about their experiences while living in Utah, including food, religious aspects, black barbershops and entertainment off the court.

“For most of the team’s black newcomers, there was some worry upon arrival,” wrote Spears. He then quoted Derrick Favors about the transition from New Jersey to Utah, saying, “To get traded to Utah, that was a big culture change. A lot of people in Atlanta heard of Utah, but they don’t know nothing about Utah. It was a big culture change and a big change for me in general …

“I was like, Utah? I didn’t know anything about Utah. What was out there or what to do out there. I didn’t know about the culture or the people. I didn’t know anything about Utah.”

After getting a handle on things from a player’s perspective, Spears turned to the cultural aspects that Utah has to offer before focusing on what players had to say about their experience overall.

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