The Utah Jazz are notoriously the most avoided team by NBA free agents. In the history of the franchise, the biggest names that they've ever landed in free agency were Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur, both in 2004.
During the recent episode of the "Hoopin' N' Hollerin'" podcast, former Sacramento Kings point guard Jason Williams also said that, aside from free agents, players who get traded to the Jazz also don't want to play in Salt Lake City.
"I'm almost guaranteed that anybody that gets traded to Utah, their first thing is 'Ugh…f—k!' Seriously. And it ain't nothing against the Jazz. It's just, this is what it is. I mean, maybe there's one or two, three teams in that category like that city," Williams explained .
Williams did not name the other cities that players avoid like a plague. Historically, fellow small-market towns like Oklahoma City , Milwaukee, Minnesota, and Memphis are among the other NBA cities players don't like to play for. And as J-Will said, it's not even about the teams that reside in those locations.
Memphis is interesting because before last week's trade deadline, the Jazz swung a big move to acquire 2023 Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. from the Grizzlies in an eight-player deal. By virtue of the trade, JJJ went from one of the most avoided destinations to arguably the most undesirable one.
According to "White Chocolate," even if you ask Jaren, he would have preferred staying in Memphis over going to Salt Lake City.
"Jaren Jackson would rather live in Memphis. You ask him that. I promise," Williams added.
White Chocolate's proclamation may come off as hateful, but he is merely speaking the truth. In fact, former Jazz superstar point guard Deron Williams revealed in 2021 that when he played for Team USA, he tried to get his Olympic teammates to come join him in Salt Lake City, but to his surprise, not one of them was willing to play for the Jazz.
"I had been around all the best players in the world," Williams said . "I had played in the Olympics. I was trying to recruit everybody. I'm talking to everybody. Nobody's coming to Utah…I'm a really good player at the time. I know: No. 1, I'm a point guard. You don't win championships with just a point guard. You need pieces. We need other pieces. All I saw was the writing on the wall: nobody's going to come to Utah. No person I ever talked to was interested in coming to Utah. It just was just a reality. So, I felt like I had to go somewhere else."
In Williams' case, he ended up getting traded to the Brooklyn Nets in 2011. Meanwhile, it remains to be seen how long JJJ will stay in Salt Lake City, and perhaps only time will tell. He is locked in until the 2028-29 NBA season, with the 2029-30 campaign a player option.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Feb 11, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
