Richard Jefferson

For other people named Richard Jefferson, see Richard Jefferson (disambiguation).
Richard Jefferson

Jefferson with the Spurs in 2011
No. 24 – Cleveland Cavaliers
Position Small forward
League NBA
Personal information
Born (1980-06-21) June 21, 1980
Los Angeles, California
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight 233 lb (106 kg)
Career information
High school Moon Valley (Phoenix, Arizona)
College Arizona (1998–2001)
NBA draft 2001 / Round: 1 / Pick: 13th overall
Selected by the Houston Rockets
Playing career 2001–present
Career history
2001–2008 New Jersey Nets
2008–2009 Milwaukee Bucks
2009–2012 San Antonio Spurs
2012–2013 Golden State Warriors
2013–2014 Utah Jazz
2014–2015 Dallas Mavericks
2015–present Cleveland Cavaliers
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Olympic Games
2004 Athens Team
FIBA Americas Championship
2003 San Juan

Richard Allen Jefferson (born June 21, 1980) is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a member of the United States men's national basketball team in the 2003 Tournament of the Americas and in the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics, and won the NBA championship as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.

Early life

Jefferson was born in Los Angeles and was raised in Phoenix, Arizona. His parents were both Christian missionaries, and he moved around frequently growing up. He attended Moon Valley High School in West Phoenix, where he was an integral part of the varsity basketball team that won the 4A State Championship in 1998.[1]

College career

Jefferson played college basketball at the University of Arizona, under Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson from 1998–2001. During his 84-game career (77 starts), Jefferson averaged 11.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. He capped his career by leading Arizona to the 2001 national championship game. Along the way, Jefferson was an all-Midwest Regional and all-Final Four selection.[2] He was inducted into the Pac-12 Basketball Hall of Honor during the 2012 Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, March 10, 2012.[3]

Professional career

New Jersey Nets (2001–2008)

Jefferson played seven seasons with the New Jersey Nets and was a key element of their back-to-back Eastern Conference Championship teams of 2002 and 2003. In addition, Jefferson was a member of the USA Men's Olympic basketball team in the 2004 Summer Olympics. Jefferson competed in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 2003.

Jefferson began his career as a substitute small forward for Keith Van Horn and showed great defensive skills and all-around ability. Because of his potential, and Van Horn's conflict with power forward Kenyon Martin, the Nets traded Van Horn to the Philadelphia 76ers and trusted Jefferson as a starter. Jefferson blossomed in the role, becoming a good mid- and long-range shooter in addition to his slashing ability. On August 13, 2004, Jefferson signed a six-year, $78,000,000 contract extension with the Nets.

Jefferson missed the majority of the 2004–05 regular season after rupturing a ligament in his left wrist, an injury he claimed occurred when Detroit Pistons guard Chauncey Billups purposely undercut him on a layup attempt during a game on December 27, 2004. Jefferson ended up missing 49 games, but returned to action for the first round of the playoffs against the Miami Heat. Prior to suffering the injury, he had missed only five games in his three NBA seasons. Jefferson had been enjoying his best professional season, averaging 22.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game. Through the 2005–06 season, Jefferson continued to perform at a high level and established himself as one of the NBA's most versatile players. On January 21, 2007, Jefferson decided to have ankle surgery.[4] After missing around six weeks, he was back in the lineup. His absence proved to be a major setback for the struggling Nets, who surged back into playoff contention once Jefferson returned.

In August 2007, Richard Jefferson pledged $3.5 million toward the University of Arizona's then-planned basketball and volleyball practice facility, which was eventually named in his honor. UA officials believe it is the largest donation ever from a former player.[5]

He started the 2007–08 season in the best form of his NBA career. In the first 7 games, he averaged 26.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists, while also notching up 1.3 steals, 97.1% in free-throws and 49.1% in field-goals. On October 31, in a game against the Chicago Bulls, Jefferson injured his right wrist slightly, thumping his chest following a clutch three-pointer. The Nets went on to win the game in overtime. On December 4 he passed Kerry Kittles to become the Nets' second all-time leading scorer.

Milwaukee Bucks (2008–2009)

On June 26, 2008 Jefferson was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons.[6] He was not happy with the trade at first because he planned on being a Net until retirement. However, he later expressed enthusiasm about playing alongside Michael Redd.[7]

San Antonio Spurs (2009–2012)

On June 23, 2009, Richard Jefferson was traded to the San Antonio Spurs for Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas, and Fabricio Oberto.[8] On June 30, 2010 Jefferson opted out of his contract with San Antonio and became an unrestricted free agent. On July 23, 2010, Jefferson re-signed with the Spurs.

Golden State Warriors (2012–2013)

On March 15, 2012, the Golden State Warriors traded the newly acquired Stephen Jackson for Jefferson, along with a conditional first-round pick.[9]

Utah Jazz (2013–2014)

On July 5, 2013, the Warriors reportedly agreed to trade Jefferson, along with teammates Brandon Rush and Andris Biedriņš, to the Utah Jazz.[10] The trade became official on July 10.[11]

Dallas Mavericks (2014–2015)

On July 21, 2014, Jefferson signed with the Dallas Mavericks.[12]

Cleveland Cavaliers (2015–present)

On August 5, 2015, Jefferson signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers.[13] The Cavaliers finished the regular season with a 57–25 record and made it through to the 2016 NBA Finals with a 12–2 playoff record. Jefferson started Game 3 of the NBA Finals in place of the injured Kevin Love. Jefferson gave the Cavaliers a huge boost in 33 minutes, scoring nine points with eight rebounds, as the Cavaliers cut the Golden State Warriors' advantage in the series to 2–1 with a 120–90 win.[14] Despite going down 3–1 in the series following a Game 4 loss, the Cavaliers won the series in seven games to become the first team in NBA history to win the championship after being down 3–1.

After initially considering retirement following the championship win, Jefferson re-signed with the Cavaliers on July 28, 2016,[15] reportedly on a two-year, $5 million contract.[16]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
† NBA championship

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2001–02 New Jersey 79 9 24.3 .457 .232 .713 3.7 1.8 .8 .6 9.4
2002–03 New Jersey 80 80 36.0 .501 .250 .743 6.4 2.5 1.0 .6 15.5
2003–04 New Jersey 82 82 38.2 .498 .364 .763 5.7 3.8 1.1 .3 18.5
2004–05 New Jersey 33 33 41.1 .422 .337 .844 7.3 4.0 1.0 .5 22.2
2005–06 New Jersey 78 78 39.2 .493 .319 .812 6.8 3.8 .8 .2 19.5
2006–07 New Jersey 55 53 35.6 .456 .359 .733 4.4 2.7 .6 .1 16.3
2007–08 New Jersey 82 82 39.0 .466 .362 .798 4.2 3.1 .9 .3 22.6
2008–09 Milwaukee 82 82 35.8 .439 .397 .805 4.6 2.4 .8 .2 19.6
2009–10 San Antonio 81 70 31.1 .467 .316 .735 4.4 2.0 .6 .5 12.3
2010–11 San Antonio 81 81 30.4 .474 .440 .750 3.8 1.3 .5 .4 11.0
2011–12 San Antonio 41 41 28.5 .414 .421 .700 3.5 1.3 .6 .3 9.2
2011–12 Golden State 22 3 26.4 .420 .418 .686 3.5 1.5 .5 .3 9.0
2012–13 Golden State 56 1 10.1 .456 .311 .717 1.5 .6 .3 .1 3.1
2013–14 Utah 82 78 27.0 .450 .409 .741 2.7 1.6 .7 .2 10.1
2014–15 Dallas 74 18 16.8 .444 .426 .684 2.5 .8 .4 .1 5.8
2015–16† Cleveland 74 5 17.9 .458 .382 .667 1.7 .8 .4 .2 5.5
Career 1,082 796 30.1 .464 .380 .769 4.3 2.1 .7 .3 13.3

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2002 New Jersey 20 0 22.1 .465 .000 .550 4.6 1.3 .6 .5 7.0
2003 New Jersey 20 20 35.6 .476 .000 .718 6.4 2.4 .8 .2 14.1
2004 New Jersey 11 11 41.8 .418 .273 .713 6.3 3.8 1.3 .7 19.8
2005 New Jersey 4 1 35.0 .400 .200 .677 5.5 2.3 .8 .0 15.8
2006 New Jersey 11 11 39.7 .545 .414 .825 4.1 4.1 .9 .4 22.2
2007 New Jersey 12 12 40.8 .482 .325 .924 5.6 2.3 .8 .4 19.7
2010 San Antonio 10 10 33.4 .486 .200 .758 5.3 1.8 .6 .6 9.4
2011 San Antonio 6 6 29.3 .387 .353 .818 4.2 .8 .5 .5 6.5
2013 Golden State 7 0 5.6 .444 .667 .333 1.0 .1 .1 .1 1.9
2015 Dallas 4 2 12.8 .357 .375 1.000 .5 .3 .5 .0 3.8
2016† Cleveland 20 2 17.8 .538 .393 .750 3.3 .7 .5 .1 5.6
Career 125 75 29.1 .475 .331 .736 4.6 1.9 .7 .3 11.6

References

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