Richard Jefferson
Richard Jefferson
Richard Allen Jeffersonis an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association. He was a member of the United States men's national basketball team at the 2003 Tournament of the Americas and the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics, and won the NBA championship as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth21 June 1980
CityLos Angeles, CA
CountryUnited States of America
He was unreal tonight -- inside and out. His confidence just grew and grew as the game wore on and it was just great to see.
He was unbelievable tonight. I was screaming before he even released the ball. Some of the shots, he started laughing. He'd catch and turn around and start shooting and I'd start laughing. He was making every shot.
He was unbelievable. He has a long way to go, but it is amazing with J-Kidd and Vince he still finds a way to stand out.
He hasn't lost a step, let that be known.
He might not be happy, but he'd have to go there and play. I guess it would be like playing for Charlotte or playing for Toronto.
Our defense wasn't good. Our offense was twice as bad. We have way too much offensive talent to score 15 (third-quarter) points against anybody.
Our defense wasn't good. Our offense was twice as bad.
My situation was pretty easy. My high school is a Nike school; I went the University of Arizona. It's not like it was bad choice, or I went there just because it was a Nike school. North Carolina, Duke, Arizona and Kentucky are all Nike schools, so if you are going to a top program, most of them are Nike.
I just wanted Gilbert and JT to go at it because they were the only two guys who had any energy out there, it seemed like, ... I wanted to push them a little so they'd get each other fired up.
Cliff is the ultimate professional. He's not just here to play games, just to say, 'Hey I'm here in my 17th year.' He's out there to compete, to play at a high level, and the last few weeks, he has.
I remember I missed free throws. You don't go up there thinking about it. You go up there realizing that you have been working all year long, all summer long, all career long to knock down one free throw.
I have no problem with anything and Frank knows that because he knows I'd go talk to him.
It was just one of those nights. It was a combination of us playing good defense and getting good looks and good shots. We were fortunate to get them on a night where they didn't hit their shots.
It was just like the good old days. When I'm out there running, then that's when I'm playing my best. It felt so good out there. We showed that we still have the ability to get out there.