The Apotheosis of Richard Jefferson

Savvy, canny veteran Richard Jefferson saved the Warriors with a clutch, diving steal from Andre Miller with less than ten seconds remaining in regulation. The Warriors eventually beat the Nuggets in double overtime. This is in keeping with Richard Jefferson's nature as a high-leverage player rather in the mold of Sam Jones or sixth men like Manu and James Harden.

 Brought in for defensive purposes at key instances, Richard Jefferson (known as "RJ" in the small circle he keeps) hustled for a charge in the first overtime and played solid man defense. As they say, this RJ can guard any position, guarding everyone in the final frames from oversized point Andre Miler to tweener Danilo Gallinari. Jefferson hasn't been drawing too many charges recently. Since his role has shifted from man defender ("I make love to pressure" is the famous quote) to primary rim defender and defensive specialist with the Warriors, the overtime charge actually the first charge Jefferson has drawn this entire season. By contrast, according to HoopData, Jefferson drew 13 charges in 2009, 2010, and 2012 (none in 2011 [fluke]).

Jefferson's teammates were not doing him any favors - completely ignoring the fouls-to-give situation, the Warriors essentially let Gallinari drive to the basket unimpeded with 2.1 seconds left in the first OT, despite having Warriors lining his path, with a foul to give. This needlessly extended the game. The Warriors, throughout crunch time, cobbled together a classic Golden State offense from successive heat checks that grew worse and worse as the players tired and tired, taking contested shots early in the shot clock no matter what the clock situation was. News flash: The oven isn't on, guys (Or, if it is, even so, the universe is essentially random without the stabilizing power of consciousness and negative feedback loops and luck essentially evens out. Instead of giving your happiness over to a total series of coinflips, you should probably have focused on using your knowledge of this game and intelligence to assert some degree of stochastic control over the outcome by generating high-percentage shots and opportunities to shift the balance of luck towards yourself and away from your opponents, which is the true essence of competition)!


Jefferson understood all of this (as he always has), as did Ty Lawson, as did Kenneth Faried, as did Danilo Gallinari, as did Kosta Koufos, as did Andre Miller. Unfortunately for Richard Jefferson, he was seemingly the only one on his team to really grasp the gritty margins of competition. To watch him dominate down the stretch defensively (shouting with swagger after the diving steal) reminds me of just how valuable he was in San Antonio. Richard is the first one on a scrum, is the first one in a pile, and his savvy and knowledge of the game have only increased, and as I watch our pathetic at-rim defense without Duncan, I think that it would be so nice if we could have a rim stopper that can also run out to cover the perimeter in RJ. Add in his sparkling corner threes and he's basically an evolutionary Bruce Bowen. Whatever the situation calls for Richard Jefferson can do his thing and you will probably not be leaving too much on the table (he leaves it all on the court, instead). Unfortunately age has sapped most of his strength and Jefferson could only play in spots. But in the end, the Warriors got the win, and I know, as I see him stare into the camera for a brief moment as he walks to the locker room, victorious, that the victory is all that matters to him, and the triumph over others it implies.

As I've implied, Richard Jefferson has always managed to get the best in tight, contested games. Clutch performances in double-overtime games have been kind of a specialty for him ever since he entered the league. In late 2004, with his high-average, low-crunch-time teammate Jason Kidd out to start the season, young Jefferson reached into his bag of tricks against Chicago to become a primary ballhandler and tenacious rebounder, despite being a wing stopper and shooter by trade:

Back-to-back baskets by Alonzo Mourning sandwiched around two missed free throws by Andres Nocioni doomed the Bulls in double overtime. New Jersey had forced overtime when Richard Jefferson, who narrowly missed the rare quadruple-double with 26 points, a career-high 21 rebounds, 11 turnovers and nine assists, drained a long jumper with one foot barely on the three-point line with 4.2 seconds remaining in regulation.

Some folks let the universe drift past them. But the man for all seasons would not have it, not when duelling against hated rival Andres Nocioni (who got the better of him in the 2004 bronze medal game [underrated storyline]). Additionally, I should note that Jefferson has always held something in reserve for his hated rivals the Denver Nuggets. I don't know if they were one of the teams that infamously passed on him in the 2002 draft, but his vindictiveness towards them is measureless and omnipotent. Take this from last season:

Jefferson beat Lawson, one of the NBA’s fastest guards, in a 90-foot dash to one end of the AT&T Center for a run-down block, then followed with a 3-point dagger at the other. That five-point swing squelched a last-gasp charge from the feisty Nuggets, keying a 121-117 victory for the Spurs.[...]

Jefferson said the play was borne of pure annoyance. He was tired of watching Denver put on a layup parade. “They had been running it down our throats all game long,” said Jefferson, who finished with 19 points and, continuing his torrid shooting, made 5 of 8 on 3-pointers. “The coaches had been talking about it for two days. I’m glad I was able to catch him.”[...]

Lawson and his coach would dispute what happened next, when Jefferson tracked down the track-star point guard and slapped his shot away. “He got away with murder,” Lawson said.

Maybe, Ty. But it's murder borne of a passion you will never understand.