The Jazz say Utah does have nightlife and made T-shirts to prove it

The Utah Jazz wants opposing teams to know that there is nightlife in Utah, and they are printing T-shirts to prove it.

Earlier this week, ESPN’s Chris Haynes reported that the Golden State Warriors had been rooting for the Los Angeles Clippers to make it out of their opening-round series against the Jazz. They weren’t rooting for Los Angeles because of the shorter travel distance, or because they felt the matchup was better. They were rooting for L.A. because they were hoping the city with the better nightlife scene would come out on top.

“The problem with Utah is that you’re just sitting there and your mind is, like, dead, because in L.A., you still got energy for the game,” Warriors reserve Andre Iguodala told ESPN.

“There’s no nightlife in Utah,” said fellow backup swingman Matt Barnes. “Obviously, as players, you want to be able to have a little bit of a nightlife, but the main focus is winning games.”

The Jazz are saying that isn’t true, and having a little fun with it in the process.

On Tuesday night, Jazz President Steve Starks tweeted out a photo of T-shirts that say “#Nightlife” on them and are printed in Jazz colors. Starks says that the shirts will be available for sale at Vivint Smart Home Arena when the series shifts to Salt Lake City for Game 3 on Saturday night, and that $1 out of every purchased shirt will be donated to 5 for the Fight — an effort to eradicate cancer that will also be partnering with the Jazz on the team’s new uniform patches for the 2017-18 season.

Salt Lake Magazine has even printed up a list of places the Warriors can kick back and grab a drink while they are in Salt Lake.

And if the Warriors still don’t believe that there is nightlife in Salt Lake City, even though now there is a shirt to prove it, Jazz forward Joe Ingles says he’d he happy to help them out.

“They can still go to L.A. between the games if they want,” Ingles jokingly told the Deseret News. “They’ve got enough money to pay for a jet to go over for a night and come back on game day … If they want the entertainment, they can drive to Vegas if they really want. I’ll hire the car for them.”