The Jazz organization is delivering on the scholarship promise that it made ahead of the 2020-21 NBA season.
Utah committed to providing a full, four-year scholarship to "an underrepresented student of color" for each of their wins during the 2020-21 NBA preseason and regular season.
It just so happened that they managed to post the fifth-best winning percentage in franchise history (.722). As such, they won 55 total games, including the preseason, in a shortened season to ensure that the team would award 55 scholarships over the next two years.
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The Jazz recently got to work and handed out the first 30 scholarships to students. The team had its players call up the scholarship recipients, and needless to say, seeing their reactions to the good news is heartwarming.
What’s better than granting a scholarship for every Utah Jazz win this season?
— utahjazz (@utahjazz) May 19, 2021
Getting to tell the recipients that their life is about to change ❤️ pic.twitter.com/7YPWho77TX
As excited as the students were to get the scholarships, the Jazz players seemed to relish the opportunity to deliver the news.
“The sky is the limit. Keep soaring. Keep being you and keep striving for greatness,” Jazz forward Georges Niang said to a student in the video via FaceTime.
“I’m proud of you. I’m rooting for you,” Jazz guard Mike Conley said to another student.
It's nice to see that the Jazz are doing some good for the community. The best part of this is that while they've already positively impacted so many lives, they still have 25 scholarships left to award. Those will be given out ahead of the 2022-2023 school year, according to the team's official website.
In the meantime, the Jazz will look to keep winning in the postseason. They are the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and will face the second-place finisher in the NBA's inaugural play-in tournament.
