Everyone has secrets, and when it’s an NBA player, every detail gets scrutinized. These players appear in so many interviews, answer so many impulsive rapid-fire questions, it’s tough for them to hide stuff. LeBron James’ former teammate Richard Jefferson recently revealed one such secret from his early days in the NBA.
Jefferson, now 40-YO, was overall 13th pick in 2001, the same year Pau Gasol was drafted third. He went to the New Jersey Nets, where he played his career’s best basketball in the first decade. He definitely attained great popularity in those young years of his.
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How did his fame help him get away from the police?
In an interview, Mr. Richard went totally honest while letting out his secrets. He accepted, “Has my celebrity or fame gotten me out of trouble? Yes!”
Here goes the story in his own words, “One time I made a ride on Red and in New York. I did something, I was posting my boy, and I cut off a cop. Just because you know in New York it’s survival of the fittest, right? So driving there, I didn’t get my driver’s license, I was 20. So I basically learned how to drive in New York because I moved there at 21.”
In his early career, RJ had shown tremendous improvement following his rookie year. He went from averaging 9.4 points to 22.2 ppg in just three seasons for the now named Brooklyn Nets. This was enough to give him that household popularity status. And this one time in New York City, he took the advantage of it.
What happened next and how did he fair with LeBron James’ Cavs?
The one-time NBA Champion detailed, “I cut off the cop, my boy is like ‘what are you doing blah blah’ I’m tripping I’m laughing coz I’m a 22-year-old idiot, right. So the cop comes in, gets my car, and he’s like, ‘you’re Rich Jefferson?’, I was like, ‘yeah!’, goes back to his car, and he pulls out the New York post, and I think we had just beat the Knicks before.”
He further added, “Maybe I was still drunk, and I was on the back page of the post, he brings the Post over and he goes, ‘are you this Richard Jefferson?’ And I was like ‘yes sir you got me! How are you doing?’ that’s how I shout out to NYPD you only arrested me one time.”
The man played two NBA finals with the Nets and was known as an athletic slasher. He later left them after seven seasons and had a few rough years. Finally, he reinvented himself into a very productive defensive player for LeBron James’ Cavaliers to help win a championship in 2016, thus ending his career on a high.
