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Here to win — Why I’m staying in Utah

Elizah Huge

Elizah Huge

Respect All, Fear None
Contributor
2024 Award Winner
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By: Derrick Favors
Jul 06, 2018

I was raised on Cleveland Avenue on the south side of Atlanta.

You’d probably get a good laugh if you saw where I learned to play. My best friend would be on the street shooting into a recycling bin. Then he got a new hoop and a trampoline for Christmas. After that we learned how to play on the bent goal we broke while we were dunking.

I love Atlanta. It’s my home. Atlanta—my mother, my family, my friends, the city—shaped me in so many ways.

But Utah is my home, too.

This is where I grew up.

Man, I still remember all the trade rumors my rookie season in New Jersey. I came into the practice facility one day after the All-Star break and the assistant GM told me to go home, that I was being traded. I asked where but he couldn’t tell me. By the time I got to the apartment, I sat down on the couch and flipped on the TV. That’s when I saw it. Breaking news. I was going to Utah.

I didn’t say too much on the flight out of New Jersey. It was a relief but at the same time I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know anything about Utah, to tell you the truth. When I got out here, I looked around and researched Utah, went out and saw the scenery, started meeting people and I just grew to love it.

I guess I got comfortable.

The Jazz always believed in me. Kevin O’Connor was my guy. He traded for me. Dennis Lindsey is always straight with me. My strength coach, Mark McKown, has been there for me since day one.

The fans always believed in me, too. They welcomed me with open arms when I got here. They stuck with me through the good and the bad. How many games did we win that one year? Twenty-five? Man, that was tough to deal with. But we were just getting started. And that’s what makes last year and the year before more special. To finally reap the rewards from being patient with that, man, that was a good feeling.

Last year was a little different for me personally. I had to sacrifice a lot. I had to sacrifice touches. I had to sacrifice shots, minutes, everything really. But I knew it was best for the team. I had to find a way to just make an impact. It was worth the sacrifice.

We won a lot of games, made it to the second round of the playoffs.

But now I want more.

I want to win a championship.

We’ve got a good team. You’ve gotta give credit to Dennis. He brought in a group of guys with great attitudes. No one’s selfish, no egos or anything like that.

We’ve got a good core. Donovan surprised a lot of people. I don’t think anybody expected him to have the type of year he had. He’s a hard worker. He’s a hooper. You just get him the ball and tell him to go. Rudy … I was here when he couldn’t catch the ball two feet away from him. He’s improved a lot. He’s the Defensive Player of the Year. I’m proud of him. And I want to show people that we can play together, so you can just throw that question away. Joe is my guy. I love Joe. I don’t know what my life would be like without Joe Ingles. Everybody respects what he has to say, which is good because he’s always going to talk whether you like it or not. When you see him, you don’t think he’s going to be that good at basketball until he steps on the court. I’m glad I’m one of his teammates.

We’ve got a great coaching staff. Quin Snyder means a lot to me. He’s one of the best coaches in the NBA. I don’t think he gets enough credit. He does a wonderful job. Sometimes we do have three-hour practices, but I don’t complain about that. He’s a great coach to play for. He’s a player’s coach. He’s always thinking of ways to get each guy involved.

We’ve got great owners. The Millers, they’ll do whatever they’ve got to do to make sure we’re comfortable and we’ll win.

That’s why I’m staying in Utah.
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https://www.nba.com/jazz/news/here-win
 
Favors is pretty chill and low key, but you can see that DL is putting together a team that likes each other, wants to win and is willing to grind to get there.

Jazz have great coaching, amazing depth and star power. Hopefully that’s enough to rise to the top of the mountain.
 
oneye said:
Favs loves the 3-hour practice joke....and I love that he loves it. We also obviously have a coach these guys all trust and love, and that’s very comforting.
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Quin is like an old school coach with modern sensibilities. He gets his players and doesn't mind listening to their concerns and addressing what he can. And they will follow him to and through hell because of it.
 
Ellis269 said:
Favors is pretty chill and low key, but you can see that DL is putting together a team that likes each other, wants to win and is willing to grind to get there.

Jazz have great coaching, amazing depth and star power. Hopefully that’s enough to rise to the top of the mountain.
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Derrick is a great dude and brings a lot to our team beyond his basketball abilities. His quiet, calm demeanor adds a nice component to the vibe of our team.

I agree that the the top of the mountain is in sight and we seem to be heading there. What a difference from where we were a little over a year ago. Donovan has really changed everything. You can tell that this story has a good chance of ending in a championship or at least in contention for one. I think the addition of Grayson is going to pay off and I love that we kept our team from last year. The only reason to mess with anything would have been to bring in a star, but we might not even need that. Dante could be our X-factor. And Grayson could replace Ricky which would open up many options. I'm super impressed with Grayson, he's exactly the type of player we needed.
 
dong2ha said:
Seriously. If Lyles had good work ethic, we would’ve never traded lyles for mitchell. His lazy work ethic worked out really well for us.


Sent from my iPhone using JazzFanz
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Lyles could be quite a player if he did to be fair.
 
oneye said:
Favs loves the 3-hour practice joke....and I love that he loves it.
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He's got 18 million reasons to love it, and he knows it. That's the problem with Lyles. He doesn't see the connection between the two. 3-hour practices, big pay day a decade later.
 
I like that Favors is basically in a contract year for three years strait. He worked hard, got heathy and sacrificed for the team to earn the deal he has. If he kills it, the Jazz pick up the second year and roll it back. At which point, he’s looking to earn one more big paycheck before he turns 30.
 
May I also point out that while Derrick's twitter is rather bare and might lead someone to think he's not that committed, his instagram bleeds Jazz. I think he's just not much of a twitter guy but his agent told him to maintain a presence.

On the other hand, this is his instagram profile pic:

35459595_404708816688962_7265822537152462848_n.jpg


And here's a selection of posts:







If you look at his wife's instagram, you can also tell his girls have Jazz baby blankets and all kinds of other little trinkets.
 
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