Ranking all of Steph’s teammates: #52 — Richard Jefferson
Oh boy...
During his time with the Golden State Warriors, Steph Curry has had 106 teammates who have appeared in at least one game. Some played in exactly one game, while others played in hundreds. Some never actually played in a game that Curry was active for, while others formed historically great partnerships with him.
And I’m ranking all 106 of them before a new season starts and he adds to the tally. Better get a move on.
Players are ranked — and stats are shown — based only on their time as Curry’s teammate. How good/bad they were in other organizations doesn’t matter. How good/bad they were on pre-2009-10 Warriors teams doesn’t matter.
#52 — Richard Jefferson
Games: 78 (34th out of 106)
Points per game: 4.8 (62nd out of 106)
Rebounds per game: 2.1 (T-67th out of 106)
Assists per game: 0.8 (T-66th out of 106)
Memory is a funny thing. Richard Jefferson spent parts of as many seasons on the Golden State Warriors as on the Cleveland Cavaliers. Yet if you ask Warriors fans about him, they’ll almost surely associate Jefferson with the two Cavs teams he was on, which split a pair of NBA Finals with the Warriors, rather than his time rocking a Dubs jersey.
That’s fair. It’s not just recent, but more meaningful. Jefferson played a role in the Warriors story as a member of two mediocre Golden State teams, and two fierce and great Golden State rivals. One of those is more memorable, even if it associates him as an enemy more than a teammate.
Jefferson came to the Warriors during the 2011-12 season, as part of the trade that sent Stephen Jackson away (for the second time). And then he was part of one of the most important trades in franchise history, as the Dubs sent him to the Utah Jazz to help clear the requisite cap space to sign Andre Iguodala.
In that way, Jefferson played a role in getting the Warriors to the NBA Finals, just to meet them there.
Poetic.