Utah Jazz: Al Jefferson, Enes Kanter bonding, becoming like the 'Odd Couple'

"I'm always going to give him a hard time off the court, but he's doing a great job on the court," Jefferson said. "The one thing I love about him, he listen. When you teach him something or talk to him about something, he corrects it right there. The sky's the limit for him.

"He worked real hard on his post moves and I see a lot of my post moves in his game. I work with him all the time and he always picking my brain, and I'm always in his ear. So it's good to see him go out there and show ... how he paying attention.

"He got the talent," Jefferson said of Kanter. "I'm just the guy that's doing what somebody done for me, helped me out along the way, and I'm trying to do the same for him. That's all I can do. And hopefully, he'll do it for the next rookie when he become a vet."

Jefferson's willingness to help Kanter and young Derrick Favors, the third member of Utah's three-headed monster at center, certainly hasn't been lost on Jazz coach Ty Corbin.

"It's been great the last two years," Corbin said. "They like each other first of all. They're good guys. Enes and Derrick both see how effective Al is on the post, so the stuff that he's telling them and teaching them is stuff that he uses in the game and they see how effective it can be, so why not try and integrate it into their game?

"I think he's done a great job," Corbin said of Jefferson. "He has a really good approach with Enes and Derrick, and they've responded to him."

And Jefferson has done so knowing full well that, perhaps someday down the road, one of those young guys could wind up taking Big Al's job away from him.

"It's your teammate," Corbin said. "You want the guy to grow, and as good as he gets, your team has a better chance to win. The business part of it what happens, whatever.

"I always thought as a player you owe you something back to the game by bringing the young guys on. And that's not being selfish. That's just teaching the guys what you've been effective with and seeing where they grow."

Heck, even the ever-grumpy Oscar Madison would be mighty impressed with that philosophy. And as it continues to pay dividends for the Jazz franchise, the fans will, too.

email: rhollis@desnews.com