Every year, the truly best teams like to fill out their bench with a couple of past-their-prime stars willing to take smaller roles so that they can get one last shot at an NBA title. It’s always a nice story when it works out – getting a ring for the old guy! – but the nature of the NBA is that the mission falls short, time after time. Vets in this position, if they have the luxury of choosing between teams, have to essentially place their bets on who they think will win and hope for the best.
Richard Jefferson found himself in this position before the season, having entered free agency after playing 2014-15 with the Dallas Mavericks. He was poised to return and join a core of Dirk Nowitzki, Chandler Parsons and new additions Wesley Matthews and DeAndre Jordan, but we all remember how that last part turned out. Apparently, that’s what gave Jefferson the impetus to jump ship and pile in a super athletic lifeboat called LeBron James.
“When it went sour, I called my agent and was like, ‘I can’t go there,’ ” Jefferson said. “And he was like, ‘Richard, now is not the time to tell them that you can’t go there either.’ So we let it wait a couple weeks. There was a conversation about maybe offering me some more money. I was like, ‘Look, if Cleveland goes to the Finals and I stay in Dallas for a little more money, I’ll kill myself.’ “
It may sound dramatic, but after coming up short in the NBA Finals twice in a row as a young buck on the New Jersey Nets, Jefferson had to wait more than a decade for another shot at the Finals. It meant more than anything to him, certainly more than a couple hundred thousand dollars, and it paid off in a big way. Not only did he finally get his ring, he was also far more than just a hanger-on, playing critical minutes in Cleveland’s smaller lineup to counter the Warriors’ Death Lineup. It looks like he’ll finally retire this with no regrets, and a ring to go with it.
(Via ESPN)
