Richard Jefferson was a highly impactful player during his 17-year NBA career. But he only ever got to hoist a Larry O’Brien championship trophy once with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016. Recently, he revealed that he never would have joined the Cavs, though, if he weren’t treated openly and fairly by his previous team. That team was none other than Mark Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks.
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Jefferson played for the Mavs for one season in 2014-15. He played in 74 regular-season games and even made some starts in the playoffs. But he was on a veteran minimum contract, and by the end of the year, considered joining a new team.
However, Jefferson recently shared that he was originally committed to signing with the Mavs on day 1 of free agency. Mostly because of a night out he had with Cuban, where the two got drinks. There, the owner laid out his vision for RJ to make a return.
“You’re like, ‘We got DeAndre [Jordan], we got Wesley Matthews.’ I’m like, I’m in! I’m coming back, all committed,” Jefferson shared on Road Trippin’.
That summer, Dallas tried to make a big splash play in free agency by prying away DeAndre Jordan from the LA Clippers. The center gave Cuban and the Mavs a verbal agreement during the moratorium period, and it was all but final. But a last-second push, which included players and coaches visiting Jordan’s house to petition for him to stay, led to him reversing the agreement.
What made the reversal so controversial was that the Mavs had already signed other players like Wesley Matthews with the expectation that he’d be paired with Jordan. When Jefferson learned about the news, he knew he might need to talk to his agent about joining a new team.
“Fast forward, that’s when all of the chaos with DeAndre happened… After that happened, we didn’t have a sender. We let Tyson [Chandler] go, and I’m like, this is my last year. And so, I called Jeff Schwartz, my agent,” Jefferson explained.
He went on to explain how he felt bad for committing to the Mavericks on day one. RJ could tell they were far away from competing for a championship. With so little time left in his NBA career, he knew he had to let Cuban know that he overcommitted. Yet, he didn’t want to upset his team’s owner.
Eventually, Jefferson called Cuban to let him know about his new intentions. But the owner still tried to get the veteran to get on board.
“You were like, ‘Richard, we could feature you because Wesley’s not going to be ready.’ I was like, if I was 31, I’d wanna be featured. I’m 34-35,” Jefferson recalled.
The NBA veteran wanted to compete for an NBA title instead of boosting his popularity. This made Cuban curious about where Jefferson wanted to sign. And the athlete knew he had to choose his words wisely.
“I think if I would have said Lakers or San Antonio, you would have gone nuts,” Jefferson said as he and Cuban both laughed. “Because I know you. I was like, I think there’s a team in the Eastern Conference. I’m thinking about taking a minimum offer from Cleveland.”
To his surprise, Cuban wasn’t upset at all. Instead, he wished Jefferson good luck and told him how much he appreciated him. Marking a gratifying end to his time with the Mavs.
Even to this day, Jefferson still appreciates Cuban for letting him out of his verbal agreement. Mostly because it immediately led to him winning a championship. He described it as perhaps the most pivotal point in his career.
“You let me out of that in the most important moment of my career. And then I end up winning a championship the next year. So, as far as I’m concerned, that was the most impactful moment.”
All in all, it’s a great story that Jefferson remembered, and we’re happy he shared it. It really showed how respectful of a player he was when he played, as well as how loyal Cuban was to the players on his team. After all, he could’ve made a bigger deal about RJ leaving in the media. But he didn’t, preferring to treat his employee well on the way out the door. In a way, Cuban helped manufacture the championship for his former player. A touching gesture that the vet still remembers to this day.
