One could definitely make an argument that Derrick Favors’ No. 15 should eventually be retired by the Utah Jazz. He’s not the only one with a case for the honor.
So, this has been said by just about everyone watching basketball in the Greater Salt Lake City over the last week, but man — as a Utah Jazz person, was it weird or was it WEIRD seeing Derrick Favors in a New Orleans Pelicans jersey on Friday?
Like few players before him, Favors and the Jazz were like syrup on pancakes, Itchy and Scratchy, John Stockton droppin’ dimes to the Mailman, Karl Malone. Simply put, they just went together.
Until they didn’t. Because sometimes in sports and in life, what should happen doesn’t. Reality rarely meets with our idealized version of it.
Our very own @RoundballRuckus is still feeling really funky about seeing @dfavors14 with the Pels last night, and we're sure he's not alone.... #TakeNote https://t.co/z16bowMw3J
— The J-Notes (@TheJNotes) October 12, 2019
Indeed, the fact that Favors played against the Jazz in the year 2019 is still messing with my mind. If you ask me, though, that’s not even the only bad mojo in play here. My main man Josh Padmore wrote about this back in August, but how weird is it that the Jazz have re-issued Favors’ old No. 15 to Stanton Kidd?
Sure, you can’t recognize every player who stayed with your team a long time or accomplished some cool things and put 75 numbered banners in the rafters at Vivint Arena, but shouldn’t you at least hold off on doling out No. 15 (mere weeks after Favors decade-long run in Jazzland came to an end) and have a conversation?
I know a lot of people don’t care about this kind of thing, maybe Favors himself doesn’t, but there are also undoubtedly a lot of fans that do. And Favors’ resume definitely warrants consideration for the jersey number retirement honor.
For those of you not keeping score, here’s what D-Faves has going for him —
- Nine seasons with the team
- 632 games played and more than 400 starts
- Averages of 16.5 points, 10 boards and nearly two blocks per 36 minutes
- Currently fourth in Jazz history in rebounds, seventh in blocked shots, seventh in made field goals and 10th in games played.
- All-around swell guy who sacrificed minutes during his prime years for the betterment of the team and was largely paid well below his market value along the way.
Say what you will, I say that’s the kind of player that should be honored by the franchise. Having said that, there’s actually a litany of other former Jazzmen who have similarly strong cases for seeing their numbers raised in banner form.
Here are eight more and one honorable mention to round out a list of 10. Again, you can’t retire everyone’s jersey and I’m not even advocating for all these men to get the nod, but, at the least, their individual merit warrants the debate.
Let’s get to it…