• Richard Jefferson • #24 • Forward - Guard
Traded to the Spurs Jun. 23, 2009
BIO
2008-09: Ranked 22nd in the NBA in scoring … averaged 19.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 35.8 minutes … shot .439 (537-1,222) from the field, .397 (116-292) from three-point land and .805 (417-518) from the line … started all 82 games (ended the season with a streak of 185 consecutive games played) … shot a career-best .397 from downtown and connected on a single-season career-best 116 threes … scored in double-figures 77 times, had 20-or-more 39 times and scored 30-plus seven times … twice scored a season-high 35 points: vs. Golden State on 3/7 and vs. Oklahoma City on 4/11 … led the Bucks in scoring a team-high 35 times.
CAREER NOTES: Played for Team USA in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece … a member of the 2003 US Team that captured the gold medal at the 2003 FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament … in his NBA career has appeared in 571 regular season games averaging 17.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 35.8 minutes … has appeared in 78 playoff games averaging 15.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 34.3 minutes in the postseason … has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week three times in his career (3/31/03, 4/5/04 and 12/13/04) … among Nets all-time leaders ranks seventh in games (489), third in minutes (17,499), second in points (8,507), seventh in rebounds (2,627), fourth in assists (1,486) and 10th in steals (438) … made two trips to the NBA Finals with the Nets (2002 vs. the Lakers and 2003 vs. the Spurs) … tied with Jason Kidd for the most postseason appearances in Nets history (with 78 games) … among Nets playoff leaders ranks second in minutes, second in points, third in rebounds, second in assists and fourth in steals.
CAREER TRANSACTIONS: Selected by the Rockets in the first round (13th overall pick) of the 2001 NBA Draft … draft rights traded by the Rockets – along the draft rights to Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong – to the Nets in exchange for the draft rights to Eddie Griffin (6/27/01) … traded by the Nets to the Bucks in exchange for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons (6/26/08) … traded by the Bucks to the Spurs in exchange for Bruce Bowen, Fabricio Oberto and Kurt Thomas (6/23/09).
2007-08: Ranked ninth in the NBA in scoring and sixth in free throws made … averaged 22.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 39.0 minutes … started all 82 games … shot .466 (619-1,328) from the field, .362 (77-213) from three-point land and .798 (542-679) from the line … set Nets single-season franchise records for total minutes (with 3,200) and FT made (with 542) … scored in double-figures 80 times with 20-or-more 54 times and 30-plus 12 times …led the team in scoring 43 times (including 13 of the team’s first 14 games) … scored a season-high 36 points three times: at Cleveland on 12/4, vs. Sacramento on 12/18 and vs. Indiana on 2/23.
2006-07: Averaged 16.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 35.6 minutes in 55 games … shot .456 (303-665) from the field, .359 (52-145) from three-point land and .733 (239-326) from the line … scored 20-or-more 13 times … scored a season-high 35 points at Washington on 4/10 … missed a total of 27 games due to injury: missed five games due to a sprained left ankle (11/12-18), missed one game due to a sore right ankle (12/15) and missed a total of 21 games after having surgery on 1/22 to remove loose bodies from his right ankle.
2005-06: Ranked second on the Nets in scoring, second in rebounds, third in assists, third in steals and first in minutes … started all 78 games he played … averaged 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 39.2 minutes … shot .493 (495-1,005) from the field, .319 (60-188) from three-point land and .812 (471-580) from the line … scored 20-or-more 26 times … had a season-high 40 points – along with 11 rebounds – vs. Charlotte on 4/6 (one of his 20 double-doubles) … led the team in scoring 20 times and in rebounds 25 times … missed three games due to back spasms (1/10, 1/13 and 1/14) … logged a DND-CD on 4/18.
2004-05: Appeared in 33 games … suffered a season-ending ruptured ligament in his left wrist on 1/11 … underwent surgery on 1/20 and missed the remainder of the regular season … averaged 22.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 41.1 minutes … shot .422 (238-564) from the field, .337 (30-89) from three-point land and .844 (227-269) from the line … named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week on 12/13 … had a team-high 26 points, a career-best 21 rebounds and a team-high 9 assists in a career-best 57 minutes in the Nets 111-106 double-overtime victory at Chicago on 11/5 … scored a career-high 42 points vs. Cleveland on 12/12 … scored 20-or-more 23 times … returned to action in the 2005 playoffs … averaged 15.8 points in the Nets four-game first round loss to Miami.
2003-04: Led the Nets in scoring and minutes while ranking second on the team in rebounds … averaged 18.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.12 steals in 38.2 minutes … started all 82 games … shot .498 (555-1,115) from the field, .364 (48-132) from three-point land and .763 (357-468) from the line … ranked 12th in the NBA in FG percentage … named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week on 4/5 (after averaging 22.5 points, 8.8 rebounds and 6.8 assists in four games with Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin out of the line-up) … scored 20-or-more 28 times and had 30-plus four times … scored a season-high 35 points at Cleveland on 3/27 … posted nine double-doubles.
2002-03: Averaged 15.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 36.0 minutes … started all 80 games he played … shot .501 (456-911) from the field, .250 (6-24) from three-point land and .743 (324-436) from the line … ranked 13th in the NBA in FG percentage … named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week on 3/31 (averaged 26.3 points and 5.3 rebounds at the Nets posted a 3-0 week) … scored 20-or-more points 19 times … posted the lone triple-double of his career finishing with 30 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in 47 minutes at Houston on 3/31 … missed two games due to a stomach virus (1/31 and 2/1) … played for the sophomore team in the Rookie Challenge at the 2003 All-Star Weekend (had 21 points in the game) … finished fourth in the 2003 Slam Dunk Contest.
2001-02: Finished second in NBA Rookie of the Year voting (behind Pau Gasol) … named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team … averaged 9.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 24.3 minutes … shot .457 (270-591) from the field, .232 (13-56) from three-point land and .713 (189-265) from the line … earned nine starts in 79 games … named the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month in January … scored in double-figures 33 times with 20-or-more four times … scored a season-high 22 points vs. New York on 2/22 … missed three games due to a sprained left knee (11/24-27).
Personal
Parents are non-denominational Christian missionaries ... has two older brothers... traveled to Africa with parents on missionary work ... Meekness LeCato, his mother, also received a PH.D. in education from the University of Cambridge in London ... in addition to playing basketball, Richard was a high jumper on his high school track team, recording a personal best jump of 6'10" ... had his #44 Jersey retired by Moon Valley High School on 3/4/04 ... lists The Fresh Prince of Bel Air as his favorite TV show, Blues Brothers as his favorite movie and Magic Johnson as his favorite all-time NBA player ... if he were not a professional basketball player, would be interested in a career in media relations/public relations.
