Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
One of LeBron James’ teammates from the championship-winning 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers in Richard Jefferson recently shared that he thinks the future Hall of Famer’s career could span 25 seasons. He did clarify, though, that the four-time NBA champion would need to accept a new kind of role when speaking with SiriusXM NBA Radio’s David Shepard on March 17. “Yeah, 100% I think it’s a possibility. But now, it’s not just an acceptance of, ‘can he do it.’ Is he willing to take the role that would most likely be required for that? If you were like, ‘Bron, you can play until 25 years. But your last year, you’re going to average 15 points.’ Is that something that he’s willing to do? I don’t know. He set a standard for himself, we expect that standard for him. And so it’s more about what he’s willing to accept, and the role he’s willing to. And only he knows that,” Jefferson told Shepard on the air.
Richard Jefferson: So 6 a.m. there's 40 federal agents at your house. Was there a helicopter, a batter ram? Gilbert Arenas: No the batter ram. It took them too long to get up the stairs, so I figured they set it… Jefferson: Over a speaker, like ‘we have you surrounded’. Arenas: Surrounded. Come outside with your hands up. Jefferson: I'm fascinated by this. Arenas: I just thought they came and got me. Jefferson: 6:00 AM they say, "We have you surrounded. Come outside." Gilbert Arenas: I knew they didn't have me surrounded though cuz the house is kind of big. So, you know what I mean? Like, I know they didn't get in the backyard, but I understood what they were saying. Jefferson: So, after that, they said, "You have you surrounded." They told you to come outside. Did you know why you were getting arrested? Arenas: No. This wasn't like we're telling people that we brought guns to an arena. This was completely different. Like even when I'm running down the stairs after you guys seen me like I'm running. Hey, I still didn't know why I was arrested. I just be honest. I wasn't shocked. (Laughs) When I got out and I was looking online, I was like, "Oh my god, I thought it was the…’.
Richard Jefferson: What is a bigger in your ear moment? Is it Lance Stevenson blowing in LeBron's ear or LeBron whispering sweet nothings to you at the free throw line before you brick those free throws and lost the playoff game? LeBron tapped you and said, "If you miss this, you're going to lose." And you did. Gilbert Arenas: I mean, you should give credit to him. That's like psychic stuff.
NBA Courtside: Richard Jefferson talking about how to prevent teams from tanking in the NBA “There was a thing in soccer. It’s like once you are eliminated from the playoffs, you should actually be given points towards your percentage for the games you win. Does that make sense? So, if you’re eliminated from the playoffs and there’s 10 games left, if you go 0 for 10, you should have a lower percentage of getting a higher pick. If you go 6 and 4 in your last 10, that means you are trying to win. The wins give you closer percentage to a higher pick. So those 6 wins instead of you having a 30% chance, right? If you go 0 for 10, if you can win 6 of your last 10 after you been eliminated, you actually have a 35% chance. So they reward you for pushing all the way to the end” (Via @RoadTrippinShow )
Richard Jefferson: Give me your top two game winners and why. Robert Horry: Western Conference final against Sacramento Kings. Jefferson: Oh, that was a beautiful one. Horry: Just because it was done at home and the every athlete has an ego, so you want to hear the fans chant your name. And of course the second half of Game 5 in the 2005 Finals against Detroit.
Advertisement
Richard Jefferson will see his media presence continue to expand, as the NBA has a deal to distribute “The Richard Show” across NBA TV, the NBA app and league digital and social media platforms starting tomorrow. “The Richard Show” is a 10-minute interview posted to Jefferson’s YouTube page, and the second season is set to drop with Knicks G Jalen Brunson as the interviewee. The show, done under the banner of another Jefferson podcast, “Road Trippin’,” had around 5 million views across Instagram, TikTok, X and Threads for Season 1. CCG Social produces the effort.
Jefferson told SBJ that, while “The Richard Show” clips have been edited down to around 10 minutes, subjects typically sit for 30 or 35 minutes, so there is the ability to add length for a longer TV-type program. “I just feel very, very blessed to have created a show that they wanted to support,” Jefferson said.
Richard Jefferson on LeBron James: I’ve always said that he was one of the great camaraderie leaders I’ve been around. He can’t really go out in public so he did a lot of team dinners: “Hey, guys, we’ve got to the Monday Night Football game on at this steakhouse. Just come hang out.” He does that in almost every city. We would go to dinners and just sit there and talk about sports — football, basketball, who we thought was the greatest small forward of all time. He took the team and did yoga. He ingratiated himself with his teammates and that was a beautiful thing.
Richard Jefferson: Players can get coaches fired in the NBA. If you allow that humility as the best player, it forces everyone else to fall in line. Pop knew. Pop would cuss Tim Duncan out first and then go down the line. Tim would just be like: “You’re right.” So what was I or anyone else going to say? His leadership style was that he allowed himself to be coached the hardest. That will always impress me. Tim received that day in and day out because he wanted greatness for himself and he wanted greatness for his teammates. That’s true selflessness.
Richard Jefferson: I will not disrespect Draymond Green and all of his accomplishments, but I'm sure he's not gonna disrespect Kenyon Martin and his ability. He was a one-time All-Star, but think about it. He has no all-defensive team. I don't believe it, but he helmed the number one defense. Our two NBA Finals years, he helmed the number one defense. He was the center. He was the two. He was guarding every position. He was that dude.
Advertisement
Richard Jefferson: So what I’m expressing is that — and this is not to say that, Draymond, you wouldn’t talk how you talk, because that’s who you are — but if you had talked like that to Kenyon in '04, when he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated with his chest out saying 'Badass Yellow Boy' and the NBA told him he had to stop showing that tattoo when he dunked on people — y’all would’ve fought 100%. I saw him. Y’all would’ve fought 100%.
Jorge Sierra: CJ McCollum passed Tobias Harris, Richard Hamilton and Larry Nance in scoring for No. 135 all-time. Kawhi Leonard moved ahead of Richard Jefferson for No. 161. McCollum entered the NBA two years after Kawhi.
As a father with two boys, both of whom will be entering their teenage years within the next five years, Jefferson revealed why he'll be hanging up his microphone and headsets by 2030, he said, per ESPN's Road Trippin. “That is why I am retiring from broadcasting at 50. That is why, listen everybody, I will be done with all of this at 50,” Jefferson said. “My boys will be 13 and 15. I would’ve done this for 10 years. So I have five more years. I’m 45. So announcing my five year retirement right now for this specific reason. Because I am so obsessed with my two boys. So at that age, I want to be able to be there for all their high school games and all that stuff. “I’m not missing Christmases. I’m not doing that stuff anymore. So I’m formally announcing my retirement at the age of 50.”
One of the most outspoken members of that Thunder team in recent years has been Kendrick Perkins who was little more than a role player on those OKC teams. During a recent appearance on ‘Road Trippin,’ with Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye, Kendrick Perkins recalled a time from those Thunder teams when Scott Brooks called out both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook for being too selfish on the court. “We’re in New York, we’re playing the Brooklyn Nets. I was in Oklahoma City and we lost. KD and Russ, we had 92 shot attempts as a team. KD and Russ took 80 of them,” Perkins said. “We walked up in the practice gym afterwards and he [Scott Brooks] told Thabo [Sefolosha], we’re all huddled up at half court. Scott Brooks gave the ball to Thabo and he said, ‘Here Thabo, shoot the ball two times.’ Thabo took two shots.”