Nayo Campbell has been an in-house reporter for the Jazz since 2020. When she isn’t courtside, Nayo is directing and producing videos highlighting the personal stories of Utah Jazz players.ICYMI, we had her on the pod last week:
How did you get into this work?
“I was a freelance journalist based in Washington, D.C. and then I worked for the Washington Wizards for three seasons. It was during that time I got introduced to the whole content side of things and I was like, wow, there's so many stories. So I made the decision to work specifically for a team. I wanted to be able to actually build genuine relationships and tell those stories.”
How do you find these interesting stories about the Jazz players?“Yeah, it's insane. Sometimes you have like 10 to 12 minutes with them to shoot something. These guys are so incredibly busy. I do a lot of research. If somebody gets traded on our team, like immediately I do hours and hours of watching their interviews, going through their Instagram, their mama's Instagram, their daddy’s Instagram, so I can kind of just get a feel of what they're interested in and what they like. It does sound a little creepy, but it's not that creepy. I just really want to make sure that when I'm telling their stories that I'm doing them justice.”
What’s one of your favorite stories that you’ve done?
“One of them that was Emmy nominated, was this back home feature on Rudy Gay. He had been in the league for 16 years. He's from Baltimore, Maryland. Basketball is a universal language, but they're also so different and so the journeys are unique in how they get there… Being able to tell a little bit of Rudy's story, go to his high school, talk to his mom and dad, talk to his best friend, and tap into who he is as a person.”
P.S. Speaking of Emmys...congratulations to Emmy-winning Salt Laker Kelsie Moore! Her short, the "Gerda that Remains" just won, and it's not to late to meet Kelsie and Gerda on this episode the pod.
