- published: 06 Dec 2015
- views: 16368
Derrick Bernard Favors (born July 15, 1991) is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a 6-foot-10-inch (2.08 m) power forward who played for Georgia Tech. On June 24, 2010, he was drafted 3rd overall by the New Jersey Nets.
Favors, from South Atlanta High School, was ranked as one of the best high school basketball players in the class of 2009. Scout.com rated him the #1 player in the country, #2 in the ESPNU100, and #4 by Rivals.com. On March 14, 2009, he led South Atlanta to the Georgia Class AAA state championship. He scored 38 points and had 21 rebounds in the championship game against Westover High School. He was named to the 2009 McDonald's All-American Team. He led the East to a 113–110 victory and was named the MVP of the game. He scored 19 points and had 8 rebounds. Favors was selected to participate in the 2009 Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Oregon but pulled out due to personal reasons and he was also selected to play in the 2009 Jordan Brand Classic at Madison Square Garden where he scored a game-high 21 points and was named MVP for the black team, while Renardo Sidney was named MVP for the white team. He finished his senior season averaging 28.1 points, 13.3 rebounds, 5.0 blocks, 3.0 steals and 2.0 assists per game and holds the career records in points (2,341), rebounds (1,511) and blocked shots (741).