This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Gordon Hayward has been on the move.
Heading into Friday's contest with the Lakers, Hayward, the fourth-year Jazz wing, had traveled a league-high 80.3 miles over the course of the season's first 31 games, according to the NBA's SportsVu player-tracking data.
Hayward's 2.6 miles a night average is behind only the 2.8 Philadelphia's Michael Carter-Williams covers, and the 2.7 miles Washington's Bradley Beal, Golden State's Klay Thompson and Houston's Chandler Parsons each travel per game.
"I trained especially hard this summer and came in a lot better shape," Hayward said. "I knew it was going to be like this."
So far, the Jazz co-captain hasn't felt the wear.
"I'm good," he said. "That's why you train and make sure you're ready for a season like this. I've got to continue to move more. Guys are dogging me and when I stand still it's easier to guard. So I've got to continue to move more."
Next on the list for the Jazz are Derrick Favors (2.2 miles per game) and point guard Trey Burke (2.1 miles a game).
Showtime
Jazz forward Richard Jefferson was born in Los Angeles and grew up rooting for the Lakers, but said "that wears off when you lose to them in the NBA Finals."
Nevertheless, Jefferson picked Magic Johnson over John Stockton as the best point guard of all time when asked to choose Friday morning.
"He doesn't need me to be a fan to validate everything thing he's done in his career," Jefferson said of Stockton, adding he grew up disliking Stockton "because he was so good."
Oh, baby
Utah's Mike Harris was not with the team Friday so that he could attend the birth of his child, Jazz officials said. Harris is not expected to travel to Los Angeles Saturday for the Jazz's game against the Clippers.
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