All Time Top 5 Arizona Basketball players in the NBA

Richard Jefferson (1998-2001)

Gilbert Arenas and Richard Jefferson could not be any more opposite of players. Unlike Arenas, Richard Jefferson has always been a well-liked teammate among, along with being like by the entire NBA community.

During RJ’s time at Arizona, he was a role player on a team that reached the national title game in 2001. The most he ever averaged in a season was 11 points, that isn’t exactly earth shattering. Yet he turned being a role player for college championship contender, into a nearly 15 year, and still playing career. Very well done RJ.

In his first seven seasons in the NBA, Jefferson was one of the key cogs that ran the Brooklyn Nets. They reached back to back NBA Finals with Richard, Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin at the helm. We are far off the days that Jefferson would ever be considered a key contributor for a team now, but he is still making a decent dent in the Cleveland Cavaliers rotation.

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Throughout his career, Jefferson made it known that he was willing to play for whoever, as long as the opportunity was right for the moment. As of the 2016 season, he had played for seven teams over 15 years. Usually, an NBA Journeyman is a player who is not good enough to stick around, that is simply not the case with Jefferson, as he routinely decided to take less money for a chance to win a ring.

That situation finally worked out. In the 2015-2016 season, he finally won a ring with the Cleveland Cavaliers. After years of hard work and dedication, Jefferson finally reached his ultimate goal of winning a title.

Here’s to you and yours, Richard Jefferson: