SALT LAKE CITY — Three hundred and sixty-one days ago, Gordon Hayward left Utah like a bandit on the lam. He took the money and ran. Though actually a pure business decision, it made him one of the most reviled former Jazz players of all time.
The damage he did to Utah’s psyche lasted, well, not particularly long. People can thank Donovan Mitchell for that. Still, Hayward will get enthusiastically booed each time he returns for a game at Vivint Arena, having left as a free agent. The thing that stung Utahns was the sense of insincerity. During the previous season, he never publicly said Utah was his preference, but he kept management and fans believing into July.
The difference between last summer and this one is stark. This time the Jazz could lose forward Derrick Favors to free agency, which begins late Saturday night. He’s no All-Star, but he is a starter, which can make things personal. Several years ago, he and Hayward represented the team’s future. While Favors remains a valued component, after eight seasons in a Jazz uniform, a departure wouldn’t come close to triggering the same backlash as Hayward.
A Favors loss would stir few hard feelings, not because he isn’t respected but because he is. People understand. He would be leaving with something Hayward’s departure lacked: grace.
To borrow a line from a “Seinfeld” episode, “Grace isn’t something you can pick up at the market.”
Favors brings a strong defensive presence and enviable offensive paint skills. But another thing he brings is a 26-year-old player who has been easy to decipher. There has been none of the elusiveness that permeated the Hayward countdown. Favors clearly stated his preference is to stay in Utah, despite his role having been revamped and reinvented. In May he said, “I knew I would have to sacrifice minutes, sacrifice shots, just sacrifice a lot of individual stuff. But I was up for the challenge.”
Hayward’s biggest sacrifice was talking to the media.
Favors arrived in Utah via a 2011 trade when he was just 19, a shy Atlanta-raised kid who knew zero about life in the Rockies. But over the years, Salt Lake grew on him, and vice versa. He became a likable figure, adept and available to media and fans.
Along the way he discovered the pleasure of sitting on his patio, watching the mountains fade to purple, then indigo, on summer nights. When a landslide damaged homes not far from his own, high on the hill, he was touched by concern and offers by neighbors.
“I fell in love with the city, with the organization, with you guys,” he told media at his 2018 exit interview. In an article by Marc Spears of The Undefeated, he reiterated, “I love everything about Utah.”
That wasn’t a phrase Hayward ever used.
It’s not as though Hayward owes devotion to Utah; not everyone needs to love it. But after seven years playing for the Jazz, he seemed to leave with a shrug. He did publish a farewell in The Players’ Tribune, but it sounded contrived, partly because he claimed to have agonized down to the wire, yet the article appeared the same day.
If it truly was a last-minute decision, he should get into deadline writing for a career.
“I really want you all to know that you mean the world to me and my family,” he wrote.
Look for his Christmas card in December.
Hayward described a rookie routine of walking to Subway for lunch, attending practice and playing video games.
“I was pretty closed off,” he said.
He’s still as inscrutable as a palace guard.
With Favors, there has always been simplicity to his story. He changed positions, adapted his style, accepted a lesser role, played fewer minutes, took fewer shots. Yet last season his effective field goal percentage soared. Whatever his team, wherever he goes, he’ll adapt again, if asked.
The quiet way Favors has grown as a person and player in Utah actually speaks loudly. If he does leave, there will be no angry jersey burnings, no accusations of treason. The move won’t be met by fury, but by appreciation. Sometimes it’s not about the decision, it’s about the delivery.