Richard Jefferson Has Brutally Honest Message For NBA Players
CHICAGO, IL - MAY 18: ESPN Analyst, Richard Jefferson, reports on the 2022 NBA Draft Combine on May 18, 2022 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. Copyright 2022 NBAE (Photo by Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)
Count Richard Jefferson among a growing group of NBA observers tired of load management.
ESPN's NBA Today discussed the increase of stars sitting games after the Denver Nuggets rested Nikola Jokic in Wednesday's loss against fellow two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks. The decision irked Jefferson.
To amplify his point, Jefferson recalled attending a San Antonio Spurs game alone as a child because his family could only afford one ticket.
"If David Robinson wouldn't have played in that game, I get emotional thinking about it," Jefferson said. "Because I got to stand next to him in Game 6 of the NBA Finals [as a member of the opposing Nets in 2003] -- when he was about to go off into the sunset -- and tell him that he was my favorite player growing up."
Jefferson said he didn't have the same "amenities" as current players such as cold tubs and a traveling massage therapist. The former forward doesn't see increasing rest as a player-driven dilemma.
"I blame the teams. I blame the training staffs because the players in this generation are doing more of what they are told than going out there and leaving it all on the floor," he said.
Jefferson played more games (1,181) over his 17-year career than every active player besides LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Andre Iguodala, and Chris Paul. He only missed two games across four seasons from 2007 to 2011 and played at least 78 games in six other seasons.
The 42-year-old isn't the only former NBA player to raise the issue this week. Charles Barkley called load management "embarrassing for the NBA" and predicted that the issue will arise during the subsequent CBA negotiations.
But as Jefferson pointed out, teams are steering the trend more than players. They want to ensure peak performance when players are on the court, even if that means occasionally disappointing fans unable to watch a sore, but reasonably healthy star compete.
