拥抱白色

Marc J. Spears

After catching a rare sight ofa black man pumping gas in SaltLake City in 1980， Utah Jazz guardDarrell Griffith felt the need toapproach his fellow "brotha."

从后视角看到另一名黑人在犹他州盐湖城停车加油时，犹他爵士队后卫达雷尔·格里菲斯觉得自己有必要在1980年这天跟他的“黑人兄弟”打声招呼。

The only black people whothe then-rookie guard regularlysaw after coming to the city werehis own Jazz teammates. At thetime， Salt Lake City had a 1.5percent black population. WhileGriffith hoped that the man had theblueprint for black male survivalin Utah， those visions of grandeurended like a missed layup.

自從来到盐湖城后，还是新秀的格里菲斯时常见到的其他黑人，就是自己在爵士的队友了。那时盐湖城的总人口中有1.5%是黑人。但格里菲斯希望对方告诉他如何在犹他州生存的希望，却像上篮不中一样破灭了。

"I went to this gas station-storeover by my motel to get a soft drinkand I see this black guy pull up ina black Cadillac Seville，" Griffithsaid. "I went up to him to ask himwhere the black population was. Itold him， ‘Hey， I'm just getting intown and I'm playing ball for theJazz. I just want to know where thebrothas are at？' He said， ‘Man， I wasjust getting off the expressway toget some gas. I'm from California.Good luck with that one.' "

“我去旅店旁边的加油站买饮料，我看到这个黑人开着一辆黑色凯迪拉克赛威停了下来。”格里菲斯说，“我过去问他，黑人住在什么地方。我对他说，'我刚到这座城市，我为爵士打球。我只是想知道兄弟们都在什么地方。' 他说，'老兄，我刚从高速下来准备加油。我来自加州，希望你最终能找到答案。'”

isn't a market that seems lessconducive to an African-Americanplayer than Salt Lake City， thehome of the two-time WesternConference champion Jazz.

在30支NBA球队中，还没有哪支球队能像两届西部冠军爵士一样，在非洲裔美国球员中这么缺乏共鸣。

Salt Lake City's populationhas always been predominantlywhite. In 2016， the city was 75percent white and 2 percent black.Utah itself was a mere 1.6 percentblack in 2010， according to the U.S.Census Bureau. While the lack ofblack residents is a real issue for theblack players on the Jazz past andpresent， once they figured out theirsurroundings and met people， theyloved playing there.

盐湖城的人口向来以白人为主。2016年，这座城市75%的人口为白人，黑人只占2%。根据美国人口普查局的数据，2010年犹他州总人口中只有1.6%是黑人。尽管对爵士球员来说，缺少黑人居民确实是问题，可一旦他们适应了环境，见到更多人后，他们就会爱上在那里打球。

"I never had any problems.The people always treated me nice，"said former Jazz forward-centerThurl Bailey， an African-Americanwho converted to Mormonism.

“我从来没遇到过任何问题，人们对我一直很好。”前爵士前锋瑟尔·贝里表示，他就是转信摩门教的黑人。

"There are a lot of greatpeople out there. They try to helpyou as much as they can，" saidJazz forward-center DerrickFavors. "Everybody speaks to you.Everybody smiles and says hello. I'venever witnessed any kind of [racism]out there. It's a great place."

“這里有很多特别好的人，他们会尽可能帮助你。”爵士前锋德里克·费沃斯说，“每个人都会与你交流，每个人都在微笑，都会跟你打招呼。我在这里从没遇到过种族歧视，这是个好地方。”

The Jazz have not had areputation for landing majorfree agents in their history sincearriving to Salt Lake City fromNew Orleans in 1980. Hall ofFamers John Stockton and KarlMa l o n e， 2 017 NBA Al l -Sta r Gordon Haywa rd anddefensive standout center RudyGobert were draft picks as wellas other notable former playerslike Bailey， Paul Millsap， DeronWilliams， Bryon Russell and MarkEaton. Favors， starting point guardGeorge Hill and reserve forwardBoris Diaw came from trades.

自1980年从新奥尔良搬迁到盐湖城后，爵士从来不以吸引大牌自由球员出名。名人堂球员约翰·斯托克顿和卡尔·马龙，2017年NBA全明星球员戈登·海沃德以及防守悍将鲁迪·戈贝尔都是爵士自己选下的新秀，球队的其他知名球员包括贝里，保罗·米尔萨普，德隆·威廉姆斯，拜伦·拉塞尔和马克·伊顿都是自己的新秀。费沃斯，曾效力过爵士的乔治·希尔以及鲍里斯·迪奥都是通过交易获得的球员。

For most of the team's blacknewcomers， there was some worryupon arrival.

对大多数新进入爵士的黑人球员来说，加入球队前他们都有些担心。

"I come from a communitythat was predominantly African-American，" said Griffith， a blackLouisville， Kentucky， nativewho starred at the University ofLouisville. "I was used to blackwomen. It was totally different forme. It was different."

“我来自一个主要是非洲裔美国人的社区。”来自肯塔基州路易斯维尔的格里菲斯说，他也是路易斯维尔大学的球星，“我习惯了黑人女性。这里对我来说完全不一样，一点也不一样。”

For Favors and Millsap， bothblack， their nervousness stemmedfrom a lack of knowledge aboutUtah.

对费沃斯和米尔萨普这两名黑人来说，他们的紧张源自对犹他的不了解。

“我的朋友对来这里有疑问。”和女朋友及两个孩子一起生活的费沃斯说，“他们说，‘我不想去犹他。可一旦来到犹他，他们就会问我，每年夏天能不能来玩上两三次。”

"It was a big culture change.I was in the New York [area] first，"said Favors， an Atlanta native whowas traded by the New JerseyNets to the Jazz in February 2011."To get traded to Utah， that was abig culture change. A lot of peoplein Atlanta heard of Utah， but theydon't know nothing about Utah. Itwas a big culture change and a bigchange for me in general …

“这是巨大的文化变化，最开始我在纽约。”费沃斯说，他是土生土长的亚特兰大人，2011年被新泽西篮网交易到了爵士，“被交易到犹他，这是巨大的文化变化。亚特兰大的很多人听说过犹他，但他们完全不了解犹他。这是巨大的文化改变，对我整个人来说也是很大的变化……”

"I was like， Utah？ I didn'tknow anything about Utah. Whatwas out there or what to do outthere. I didn't know about theculture or the people. I didn't knowanything about Utah."

“我心想，犹他？我一点也不了解犹他。那里有什么，或者能做什么。我不了解那里的文化，也不了解那里的人。我对犹他没有任何概念。”

Dominique Wilkins wasactually drafted by the then-cashstrapped Jazz with the secondoverall pick in 1982， but didn'twant to come to Salt Lake City.The Hall of Famer was traded tothe Atlanta Hawks for John Drew，Freeman Williams and $1 millionand became the franchise's alltimeleading scorer and biggeststar. Twenty years ago， DallasMavericks guard Derek Harperalso turned down a chance to betraded to the Jazz team that went tothe 1997 NBA Finals.

多米尼克·威尔金斯其实在1982年的选秀大会上被当时资金紧张的爵士在第二顺位选下，但他不想去盐湖城。这位名人堂球員被交易到亚特兰大，换回了约翰·德鲁，弗里曼·威廉姆斯和100万美元现金，威尔金斯最终成为老鹰的队史得分王及最知名的球星。20年前，达拉斯独行侠后卫德里克·哈珀同样拒绝了被交易到爵士，1997年这支球队打进了总决赛。

"There was a Utah deal， butyou go live in Utah，" he told ESPN."Nothing against Utah or theirteam， but I don't want to live there."

“犹他开了份协议，但你得住在犹他。”他对ESPN说，“我不是对犹他或者球队有意见，但我不想住在那。”

While there might not bemany options， if Jazz players inSalt Lake City looked hard for soulfood， they could find it.

尽管选择不多，可盐湖城的爵士球员认真寻找，他们还是能找到吃灵魂食物的地方。

The most legendary of allthe soul food restaurants to openin the city was Mama's SouthernPlantation. Jazz team members andvisiting NBA teams were regulars.The restaurant， which once hadseveral locations， is now closed.

盐湖城中最传奇的灵魂食物餐馆，当属“妈妈的南方种植园”。爵士球员和来到这里参加客场比赛的球员是常客。这家曾经开过多家连锁店的餐馆，如今已经关门歇业。

"Friends were skeptical aboutcoming，" said Favors， who liveswith his girlfriend and two children."They were like， ‘I don't want tocome to no Utah.' Once they comeout and visit Utah， they ask me ifthey can come out two to threetimes a summer.

“我的朋友对来这里有疑问。”和女朋友及两个孩子一起生活的费沃斯说，“他们说，‘我不想去犹他。可一旦来到犹他，他们就会问我，每年夏天能不能来玩上两三次。”

"I told my mom when I boughtmy house that I was trying to stay outhere year-round. She said， ‘Go for itand see if you like it.' I tried it and fellin love with it. I bought my house."

“买房子时我跟妈妈说，我想全年留在这。她说，‘去吧，看你喜不喜欢。我尝试了一下，爱上了这里。我买了属于自己的房子。”