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SALT LAKE CITY — Derrick Favors is sneaky.
Wednesday night's win against the Toronto Raptors is a perfect example. Three Jazzmen played more minutes than Favors. Three took more shots. Down the stretch, all of the talk was about three other players: the explosive backcourt of the Raptors against the rim-protecting beast that is Rudy Gobert.
But the game belonged to Favors. It was Favors who led the Jazz in points, with 18. It was Favors who garnered 11 rebounds, finishing with the game's only double-double. It was Favors who scored the game's most critical basket, an and-one layup over multiple defenders that put the Jazz up two possessions with 40 seconds left. And it was Favors who made the biggest difference on the court, with a game-high plus-minus of +16 in a game the Jazz only won by four.
It's been that kind of season for Derrick Favors, who has become the Jazz's best player. Consider this: he leads the team in points, rebounds and steals so far, despite not leading the team in shots, rebound opportunities or minutes. And he's efficient too — his shooting percentage is the second-highest on the team, trailing low-usage Joe Ingles by under 2 percentage points.
Favors is, remarkably, only 24 years old, just now growing into real adulthood. He's now a father after his fiance, Shivolli Da Silva, gave birth to twins this summer. The responsibilities of fatherhood, Favors says, come daily, from taking care of them when at home to video calling them on the road. He's also improved his look, undergoing a dental procedure to repair his teeth that gave him one of the best smiles in the NBA.
The end result of his growth is confidence, and it's showing both on and off the court for the Jazz. In years past, coaches have had to beg Favors to become more vocal, so he could lead a defense as the big man in the middle while becoming a steward in the locker room. Those days are over.
If you put together a recipe for making an underrated player, you'd probably make Favors. You'd make someone who wasn't flashy, someone soft-spoken, someone who was very good at all aspects of the game but not take-notice-of-me elite at any one facet. You'd put a team with veteran players ahead of him early, minimizing the natural curiosity that young players attract. And, of course, you'd put him in a small media market, hoping he wouldn't garner the attention of the national press.
That lack of recognition, though, drives Favors. This summer, he was snubbed for the USA Basketball team, missing the chance to be named one of his country's best and a contender to play in the Olympics. Months later, it still irks Favors.
"That (decision) motivates me to keep going out here and work on my game, go out there and play hard every night, and go out there against certain guys. It still motivates me."
But Favors' numbers and impact are becoming too difficult to ignore. He's being named as a possible All-Star contender in an incredibly tough Western Conference. Why?
Well, just look at league leaderboards. Favors is in the top 20 in the NBA in 2-point field goals (19th), rebounds (14th), steals (8th), blocks (19th), and shooting percentage (17th). His Player Efficiency Rating, or PER for short, is a ridiculous 25.9, good for 8th in the league. That's among the true superstars of the game, above Anthony Davis, Paul George, Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Bosh and, of course, about 400 other NBA players.
By nearly any metric, Favors would be a deserving All-Star selection if he keeps this performance up. Would that be important to him? "It would. I'd love to make it," Favors replied."But you know how it works out. I might not make it; it depends on how stuff goes. Hopefully my name will be in there when they announce it."
After playing under the radar for so long, Derrick Favors is ready for the limelight.
