Utah Jazz Twitter/Courtesy
Utah Jazz guard Rodney Hood (center) poses with southern rapper Big K.R.I.T. (left) and Chicago Bulls guard Cameron Payne (right) during his annual Welcome to R. Hood camp in Meridian, Mississippi in August.
MEMPHIS — “Grew up on the country side of towwwnnn, now I’m ballin’ under city lights!”
If nobody else in the world can relate to rapper Big K.R.I.T.’s opening lyrics for his hit song “King of the South,” Utah Jazz guard Rodney Hood certainly can.
Both hail from the same small town: Meridian, Mississippi.
“We just started to kind of build this camaraderie, being from Meridian, Mississippi,” Big K.