Al Iannazzone caught up with Richard Jefferson as the Spurs were rolling through town this week and the former Net, who was traded in a salary dump for the great Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons, said he considered coming back to the Nets this past summer, but the stars never aligned and the organization obviously decided to go with Travis Outlaw instead:
“Having roots there, just respecting the organization and wanting to help bring them back to a level in which they had been accustomed to for most of the [last] decade, I explored that,” Jefferson said. “That was something they really weren’t interested in.”
Giving his age, I don’t think RJ would have ultimately been a wise investment over four years for this Nets team, despite how well he’s doing and how much Outlaw has struggled. With that said, I loved reading this because Jefferson always struck me as one of the players who actually took pride in being a Net. Kenyon Martin chased the money in Denver, and Jason Kidd always seemed to have a volatile relationship with the organization, but RJ appreciated the opportunity he was given and embraced the organization and its fans.
