Jazz teammates support Kyle Korver's essay on white privilege

SALT LAKE CITY — In the locker room, it’s brought up. At breakfasts and lunches, it’s brought up. On road trips, it’s brought up.

Ever since a fan yelled a racist remark at Russell Westbrook last month in Salt Lake City, racism and privilege have been topics for discussion among the Utah Jazz players.

Outsiders got a glimpse of those talks on Monday when Kyle Korver released an essay in the Players’ Tribune along with a video of a roundtable discussion on the subject with he, Georges Niang, Thabo Sefolosha and Ekpe Udoh

Even as the Jazz make a strong push to closeout the regular season and ready for the playoffs, the national conversation about the team wasn’t about how well Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell or anyone else has been playing, it was about Korver’s article and the mark it has made.

Or at least could make.

On Tuesday, Korver's teammates spoke about how important it was for him to write it.

“It was great having that input from him and having a different perspective on it,” Rudy Gobert said. “It’s usually people of color that talk about it, so having a white guy that doesn’t experience the same things but has experienced some things as well differently. It’s a different perspective, but it’s great.”

Korver's perspective is one that the majority of fans in Utah might relate to more. According to the United State Census Bureau, 90.9 percent of Utahns are white with just 1.4 percent identifying as African American.

“What I’m realizing is, no matter how passionately I commit to being an ally, and no matter how unwavering my support is for NBA and WNBA players of color ... I’m still in this conversation from the privileged perspective of opting in to it,” Korver wrote.

But Korver didn’t want that realization to just be that: a realization. He wanted it to lead to change.

Korver said he plans to educate himself more on racism in America and support leaders who see racial justice as fundamental. He plans to listen and hold other white individuals accountable for racist actions and remarks.

It’s a message that has been celebrated by his former and current teammates and the league as a whole.

“It’s awesome for him to come out with something like that,” Jazz wing Grayson Allen said. “And it’s awesome for me as a young player to be in the locker room with so many older guys that think about a lot of important topics and important stuff."

The Jazz players plan to keep having those conversations — and they want everyone else to join them.

“I think everyone has a responsibility," Allen said. "And for me, it’s something that’s so widely talked about now that I think if you have the knowledge of the situation, you have the responsibility to make it known; or if you’re in the situation where you see it, that it’s your responsibility to make it known then.

"Whether that’s at a game or out in public on the street, it’s wherever it is, you have the responsibility.”

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