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Derrick Favors thinks of himself as a big kid.
So he fit right in with the 25 children at the Boys & Girls Club who came to the Zions Bank Basketball Center Monday to pick up 25 backpacks full of school supplies, play a round of Lightning and eat pizza with the Jazz's power forward.
As Favors said, "I'm a big kid myself, so just being able to hang out with the kids & play games with them, eat lunch with them is a big deal to me."
It's clear Favors wasn't lying. Throughout the event, the smile only evaporated from his face when I asked him questions about two disappointing pieces of news from last week: Dante Exum's torn ACL and his own snub off of the national team.
About Exum's injury, Favors said he felt bad for the 20-year-old PG.
"It was tough. He's a young player and wanted to go play for his country. He got hurt, but overall, he's got our support and I'm pretty sure he's working hard to get back healthy."
Also on Thursday, USA Basketball announced its 34-man roster for practices and a public scrimmage this week. While Gordon Hayward was named to the roster, Favors wasn't.
Favors wasn't thrilled with the news, at first: "I was frustrated for a while, but overall I got over it. They got the guys they wanted to get. All I can do is continue to work hard, continue to work on my game and make my point next season."
Favors was right to be disappointed. The big man finished 14th in the NBA in Player Efficiency Rating last season, but somehow was passed over on the roster in favor of the likes of Mason Plumlee and Tobias Harris.
But Favors has an opportunity to show off his game next season for what should be a Jazz team that competes for the playoffs. After all, that's the goal for the team, according to him: "Everybody wants to get to the playoffs. That's the whole mindset from the players, coaches, front office, fans, that's the goal we're working on. A lot of guys been committed, coming back to Utah or having group workouts in Vegas, in Indiana with Gordon. Everybody's committed to it. That's the main goal."
He's doing his part to get ready primarily by getting ready to play next to Rudy Gobert. With Gobert down low, Favors is trying to expand his game on the perimeter, including everything from the 16 footer to the 3.
But for at least an hour Monday, his time on the court wasn't spent working out, but instead rebounding for the 25 fellow kids from the Boys & Girls Club.
