Utah Jazz: Derrick Favors back with more Twitter greatness

Derrick Favors has shown a glimpse of his confidence heading into the 2017-18 season and that mode of thinking could be an excellent sign for both him and his Utah Jazz team.

If you’re one to follow Utah Jazz players on social media, you know that Rudy Gobert, Joe Ingles and even recently drafted rookie Donovan Mitchell are credited as being among the team’s most entertaining follows. They often have witty comments, cool statements praising their Jazz team or in the case of Gobert, sometimes some rather harsh but always on-point tweets.

For examples of that, look no further than Rudy’s retweet of Isaiah Thomas’ tweet bragging about the Boston Celtics championships to recruit Gordon Hayward on the day that Thomas was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, or his hilarious “These Hoes Ain’t Loyal” rendition shown below that just so happened to come on the same day that Hayward flew the Jazz coop.

https://twitter.com/SBNation/status/882408602660503552

However, there’s another Jazz player who’s personally one of my favorite social follows. He isn’t nearly as active or talkative as those formerly mentioned guys, but when he takes to Twitter to express what he’s feeling, it usually causes quite a stir. The guy I’m talking about, of course, is Derrick Favors, whose social media actions have been discussed a handful of times on TheJNotes.com because of how cryptic he’s been.

Regardless of what underlying meanings some of his tweets have had, he’s always been quick to rile fans up as they jump to conclusions and attempt to understand what’s going through his head.

Lately, however, a pair of Favors’ tweets have been anything but cryptic. In fact, in both of them that Jazz fans were treated to in a rare window (for him) of less than 24 hours, his intent was quite clear – Derrick Favors is bursting with confidence and is aiming to come back strong in 2017-18 and silence his doubters.

The first such tweet came in response to a Twitter user who tagged Favors and asked if it was crazy to believe that he will be considered and potentially make the All-Star team this year. Favors’ reply was succinct and clearly got the point across. All he said was, “Wouldn’t be crazy at all.” You can see it for yourself below:

In my recent best case/worst case scenario series piece on Derrick Favors, I pinned his best case as becoming a fringe All-Star and entering the conversation for receiving the recognition, but I also predicted that in a crowded and deep Western Conference, he wouldn’t quite find himself making the All-Star roster at the end of the day. However, I would obviously be beyond thrilled if he happened to prove me wrong and got the nod.

Favors looked like he was approaching an All-Star level in 2014-15 and 2015-16 as he averaged around 16 points and 8 rebounds per contest both years and displayed a vast arsenal of offensive and defensive weapons. However, an injury-riddled year set him back in 2016-17 to the point that many now doubt his potential to reach All-Star prowess. Favors clearly disagrees with such sentiment, however, and it will be incredible to see him out to prove himself this upcoming season.

His second statement tweet actually came as a reply to an iconic Rudy Gobert tweet. Rudy quoted a tweet that had a highlight video of him logging several sweet assists, many of which were to teammate Derrick Favors, and put in quotes the typical misinformed description of his game that casual fans give – “His only offense are dunks and put backs.”

Favors then went on to quote that tweet responding with another common and misinformed notion, alluding to the fact that many folks have questioned whether or not Favors and Gobert can coexist on the floor together (even though they did so quite well in 2015-16 when both were healthy). Once again, you can see those tweets play out below:

https://twitter.com/dfavors14/status/902982460413173760

Based on this tweet, it would appear that the chemistry in the Favors-Gobert tandem extends beyond just the floor and goes into the Twitter-sphere as well. Gobert’s sarcastic comment was perfectly followed up by the one posted by Favors as both sought to silence common doubts they’ve obviously grown all too tired of hearing about.

I absolutely love seeing this confidence from Derrick Favors. It’s no secret, as I’ve mentioned it plenty of times in my writing, that D-Favs is one of my favorite Jazzmen on the squad and I would like nothing more than for him to have a bounce-back season in 2017-18 and remind both his teammates and opponents alike just what a force he can be.

He’s appeared to be having an exceptional offseason and these tweets make it abundantly clear that he’s got a significant chip on his shoulder and will be more than ready to do work in the upcoming season. Seeing Favors channel that determination and desire to silence his critics is bound to be one of the most exciting aspects of the new season.

These recent tweets go nicely with one he posted just over a week ago that aimed to further call out those doubters:

My sincere hope is that fans, media and opposing players across the league continue doing just that – “Keep underestimating”. That way, when he has the statement year that he clearly feels confident of having and all of us fans, who remember what he was just two seasons prior, know he’s capable of, it’ll be just that much sweeter.

Next: Utah Jazz: How important is a healthy Derrick Favors?

This confident Favors makes for an entertaining social media follow and likely an even more entertaining basketball player. Keep up the good work, Faves, and know that Jazz Nation is beyond excited to see you get back at it in a few short weeks.