Richard Jefferson: Time with Cavs what he remembers “most” in his career

When Richard Jefferson decides to hang up his sneakers, the Cleveland Cavaliers will have a special place in his heart and mind.

In an interview with Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, forward Richard Jefferson reminisced on his time spent with the Cleveland Cavaliers and spoke about his eventual departure. Jefferson, who now plays for the Denver Nuggets after being traded by the Cavs in the offseason, was a valued rotation player in Cleveland for two seasons.

In his first season with the Cavs, Jefferson was a part of the Cleveland Cavaliers first championship in franchise history. A championship that ended a 52-year drought of professional sports titles in the city of Cleveland. One brought to The Land by none other than its prodigal son and a crowned prince that had been through thick and thin both with each other and with the 13 other players on the roster.

Quote transcribed by Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe:

"“I’ve been a part of some very, very close-knit teams,” he said. “Obviously toward the end of my career, pretty much at the end of it, [the Cavaliers were] the most recent [special time] and the time I remember most because it was toward the end.”"

The thing that stands out most about this quote, besides it being the time he remembers the most in his career, is that he’s a major reason that the Cavs became what he called a “very, very close-knit” team.

Jefferson was the definition of a fan favorite in his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers. A lighthearted veteran with a rare level of self-awareness, Jefferson is the player who brought the “Road Trippin'” Podcast and Lil Kev’ to the attention of the national media.

For those that don’t know, both the podcast (which featured members of the Cavs who joined Jefferson, Channing Frye and Fox Sports Ohio reporter Allie Clifton) and Lil Kev’ (a cutout of a Kevin Love look-alike in his best Hawaiian shirt) facilitated and enhanced team bonding and chemistry. While the podcast wasn’t created with that intent in mind, Lil Kev’ was a mascot that was found by chance but propelled the Cavs through rocky shores.

Quote transcribed by ESPN’s Dave McMenamin:

"Said Frye: “I think it’s funny. I think it’s something that brings us together as a team. Lil’ Kev is an integral part of what we’re doing. He’s the guy from behind the scenes.”"

That was the season that the Cleveland Cavaliers won their first NBA championship after overcoming a 3-1 deficit in the 2016 NBA Finals. The year they swept their first their first two opponents despite changing head coaches along the way.

Overcoming adversity and seemingly insurmountable odds was a theme throughout Jefferson’s time with the Cavs, Meanwhile, his friendship with LeBron James, Channing Frye and Kevin Love put Jefferson in a position to be the glue for some of the most important members of the group.

Without Jefferson and Frye, one would be right to wonder if James and Love would have made it this far. James is notoriously passive-aggressive, voicing his frustrations to local, national and social media in cryptic ways that could be innocuous or a sign of things to come.

For instance, when James wanted Love to stop trying to “fit-out”.

Jefferson and Frye served as a buffer for the two parties after their arrival (Jefferson was signed in the offseason, Frye was traded to the team that season). Frye’s group text was an important and inclusive bonding experience for James and Love, Jefferson was the first veteran the Cavs signed who came to the locker room with jokes, a lighthearted attitude and the intent to bring the team together.

Unfortunately, after the Cleveland Cavaliers signed future Hall of Famer and James’ best friend Dwyane Wade, there were a quite few players on the roster bubble as a result: Kay Felder, Edy Tavares, Kendrick Perkins, Jose Calderon, Frye and Jefferson.

Only two of these players could stay.

Tavares and Perkins were waived but that wasn’t a surprise with the arrival of center Ante Zizic. With those two out, it only made sense for Frye to remain. Especially when he’s the only stretch big with the ability to rain threes outside of Love.

Felder, who needed more development to be a reliable piece of the rotation, was as good as gone and that wasn’t a surprise either. It was surprising, however, to see that Jefferson was part of the trade package that resulted in Felder being sent to the Atlanta Hawks. There were many that saw Jefferson as more valuable than Calderon although the injury to Isaiah Thomas and the injury history of Derrick Rose meant that Calderon would eventually be pushed into playing time and the Cavs’ depth on the wings all but pushed him out of the rotation.

Jefferson would have been trying to find minutes at on the wings or at the forward spots behind J.R. Smith, LeBron James, Jae Crowder, Jeff Green, Dwyane Wade, Kyle Korver and Iman Shumpert.

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Like Frye, his minutes would be sporadic and his role uncertain. Perhaps that would have been enough to appease Jefferson but the tradeoff would have been the Cavs being without a capable and necessary third-string point guard.

Hindsight is 20-20 but Calderon is indeed the Cavs starting point guard after an injury to Rose has limited him to seven games this season. Calderon has started 20 games and the Cavs have only lost 3 games in his last 19 starts. Wade is the Cavs’ leading Sixth Man of the Year candidate while averaging 11.2 points and 3.9 assists in 23.7 minutes per game.

Frye has played in 31 games thanks to injuries to Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith but has only been playing a career-low 12.4 minutes per game this season.

Shumpert’s injury pushed rookie Cedi Osman in the rotation and had Jefferson been on the roster, those minutes might have went to him. However, while he and Jefferson play the same position and the same low-usage three-and-D role, Osman is capable of guarding opposing ball-handlers thanks to his youth and energy. Jefferson is a solid position defender but asking a 37-year-old player to defend opposing point guards seems like a tall task.

In any case, Osman has played in 27 games but only averaged 7.4 minutes per game

When it comes to the business of putting the best team together, Jefferson understands why he was the odd man out even if his experience, basketball IQ and locker room chemistry would make him an invaluable piece to the team come playoff time.

Per Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe:

"Jefferson understood the business side involved in his exit from Cleveland. Because of his contract, Channing Frye remained even though Jefferson might have been of more use because of his versatility."

It’s the unfortunate side of the game. Like our favorite pair of jeans or your child’s favorite toy, a fan favorite can’t stick around forever.

Here’s to two great [Cavs] seasons of RJ.

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*All stats gathered from www.basketball-reference.com