Can we just be honest here?
It's about Mormonism (and I say this as a Mormon who grew up in Utah). That's why white people across North America (including, perhaps, the Hayward family) feel just as comfortable saying that "I don't want to live in that place" as black folks do. It's not about what the fans do as a fanbase.
Sure there's some element of small-town stigma and wariness about lack of diversity (though Salt Lake County itself is not the whitest metropolitan county in the US --Portland outranks Utah among NBA markets; it may be the least black, however). But the perceptions of racial relations and whatever other perception comes into play are not just taken as individual characteristics of the place; instead, they are all filtered through views/stereotypes about Mormonism.
That's why even Oklahoma City isn't viewed as warily by the NBA community (fans, players, agents, etc.).
Acknowledging the role of Mormonism is both liberating and frustrating. It's liberating because it's not about Jazz fans per se; and perhaps also because some stereotypes are clearly overblown and many people who go to the area end up liking it. But it's also frustrating because the stereotypes are far beyond the ability of Jazz fans or the Jazz organization by themselves to affect (at least on a large scale; perhaps some things can be done to change the negative views of individuals here and there.)
