Richard Jefferson balled out on several occasions in his 17-year NBA career. His career-high performance came in his fourth season playing for the Nets (then based in New Jersey), when he dropped 42 points against the LeBron James-led Cavaliers. This included the game-winning shot with only 0.2 seconds left on the clock.
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Younger fans only saw Jefferson after he transitioned into a role player in his later years. But in his prime years on the Nets, RJ was an elite forward, who could power his way to the hoop and slam it down just as well as his teammate at the time, Vince Carter. Jefferson’s Nets run is widely overlooked now, but this marquee performance against the Cavs on December 22, 2004, was just extraordinary.
Jefferson himself commented on the game and stated that his career-high moment was made even better because it happened against LeBron.
“I love it that my career high is against Bron. He doesn’t care because he’s got a couple of trophies in there,” RJ joked.
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Jefferson’s bold showing against the King would set the groundwork for a collaboration later down the road. The two grew very close after they became teammates together in Cleveland.
In fact, RJ became a voice in the locker room that a lot of players would listen to during that time. LeBron and RJ got to hoist the NBA Championship trophy together after they defeated the Warriors in the famous 2016 series.
Richard Jefferson once said that LeBron James is the greatest scorer of this era
Jefferson and James’ playful relationship doesn’t take away from how much RJ respects what LeBron has done. In a 2021 interview, RJ named LBJ as the greatest scorer of this era. His main point of argument? Consistency.
“The greatest scorer is not only, it’s consistency, it’s longevity and it’s amount,” stated Jefferson confidently. He then stated that if any player ever wanted to break LBJ’s playoff scoring record, they would need to average 30 PPG in the postseason, as well as compete in 13 NBA Finals. He added that the record, “is not going to be broken.”
The interview took place before James passed up Kareem as the league’s all-time leading scorer, but Jefferson was extremely confident that James would do it with ease. The record was broken in 2023.
