His charm is not limited to women. As Korver warmed up on the court before a game one day, a man showed up holding a sign with a photo of a baby on it — whom he had named Korver, after the player. When Jazz vice president of communications Linda Luchetti pointed this out to Korver, he made a beeline to the man and signed his sign.

"Wow," he said to Luchetti as they walked off the court. "I've had dogs named after me, but never a person."

Go figure. All this attention and adulation for a player who averages less than 10 points and plays less than half the game.

Yet NBC/NBA shill Ahmad Rashad wants to talk to him before a game, and TNT pulls him aside before practice for a one-on-one interview. He receives almost as much fan mail as Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer, the undisputed superstars of the team. When someone asked Williams about the "MVP chants" he generates from fans, he smiled and noted they weren't as loud as the cheers that Korver gets.

No player since Jeff Hornacek has been so immediately embraced by Jazz fans, and Hornacek arrived as a bonafide star. Korver was given a standing ovation the first time he took the court for the Jazz.

"It's gone to another level with the fans and the amount of love and offers he's receiving from 7-year-old girls," says teammate Jarron Collins.

"You can't help but notice it," says another teammate, Ronnie Price. "At first we messed with him about it, but you could see he gets tired of it."

It's not just Utah fans who have fallen for the 27-year-old Korver. He was widely considered the second most popular player during his four-plus seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers behind superstar Allen Iverson, and he earned heartthrob status when he played in the collegiate ranks for Creighton.

His mother, Laine, sat in the stands at Creighton, taking in the signs addressed to her son — Kyle, will you marry my daughter? — and was aghast. "I wondered, 'Is this really happening?"' says Laine.

Observers offer all sorts of explanations for Korver's popularity. There is his pure shooting stroke from three-point range (40 percent), the NBA's version of the home run. Kevin O'Connor, the vice president of basketball operations, says Korver's popularity is due in part to the team's record — "The team has done very well," he says, "and fans recognize that he loves to play." Connor was so smitten with Korver — as a player, not a heartthrob — that he tried to trade for him more than a year ago, but the Sixers wouldn't let him go.

A couple of observers attribute Korver's immense popularity to skin color. "Look at Utah's demographics," says one team official, but that ignores Korver's popularity in Philadelphia.