Voice of the Nets with Chris Carrino (Presented by Ticketmaster)Former Net and current YES Network broadcaster Richard Jefferson joins Chris to discuss his time on the Nets, his recruitment into broadcasting, fatherhood, and more.
Hey, what's going on. It's Chris Carino. This is the Voice of the Nets podcast, presented by Ticketmaster. It is a weekly program where we dive into the Nets with a variety of guests, including coaches and players. And this week on the program, we have one of the great Nets alumni from one of their most famous teams who has had a meteoric rise in the broadcasting business, and that of course, is Richard Jefferson. Before we get to Richard, though, we are recording this the day after, the morning after the Nets beat the Orlando Magic in the NBA In Season Tournament, and we saw something last night in an NBA game that you would never see before this season. It happened in the final minute of the game. Nets are winning by eighteen points. They're in the final thirty seconds and their starters are still in the game, and they're looking back to their head coach to want to know if they should run a play, if they should score. And that's where it first kind of hit me that I was seeing something different that I wasn't necessarily ready for, but I figured it out what they were doing. Royce O'Neal ends up missing a three, but then on the other end. It really became obvious because the shot clock is off, Orlando could just dribble out the clock. They go to make a pass and mckel bridges steals the ball and goes to the other end and gets a layup with three seconds to go. They're running up to score, but you realize that it's an nd season tournament game and one of the tiebreakers. An important tiebreaker is point differential in these games. So the Nets had had a two point win against Chicago then lost by fourteen in Boston, where I don't even you know, Boston realized that at the time they probably could have run up the score even more, and they didn't. Maybe they don't think they need it. But the Nets were a minus twelve going into the game against Orlando, and they end up winning the game by twenty, so they improved their point differential to a plus eight, which could be huge if you're trying to get one of those wildcard spots. Nets, you're in a very good position right now. They've only got one in season tournament game left. They're two to one, and it's a game at home against Toronto, and more than likely that you know, if Boston wins out or even if Boston loses a game, they would have the tiebreaker in the group over the Nets because they beat them. But there's probably gonna be a bunch of one loss teams buying for one of those wildcard spots, and point differential is going to come into play. We never had to think about that before. Looked like it was just some bad sportsmanship. But no, there wasn't a fight. There wasn't any arguing or yelling afterwards. I think Orlando realized at the end what was going on. You're trying to score as many points as you can, and the Nets end up winning the game by twenty, which is their largest lead of the season and happens at the end of the game against the Magic. So the Nets in an indecent position right now to get themselves to the quarterfinals of the N Season Tournament. Before the start of the year, you may have seen a video that explained the N Season Tournament, and it was hosted by none other than our guest today, Richard Jefferson, who has kindly volunteered to be the director of Ambiance for the semifinals and finals in Las Vegas. Not really sure what that entails. I really didn't want Richard to explain it here on the podcast, So we don't touch on that, but we do touch on a lot of other things, including going back down memory lane on those great Net teams, the two NBA Finals teams, you know, two and oh three with Richard was a huge part of that. That's when I got to know Richard. I was in my first year as the full time radio Voice of the Nets. Was Richard's rookie year, the first year the team goes to the finals. We'll talk about that team, Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin, Aaron Williams, and others. We'll also talk about how Richard now has into his second act and how he was recruited into broadcasting, who made him realize that that he had a future in it, and now his meteorc rise, and how he approaches the job now, how you stay in the league for seventeen years, Maybe a misconception about what Richard was early in his career and how hard he worked to get to eventually playing for eight different franchises over seventeen years. All that and more coming up in a conversation right here on the Voice of the Nets presented by Ticketmaster with former Net and now broadcasting star Richard Jefferson. I forgot some of the teams you played for. Yeah, you played for a lot of Utah, Like, do you remember playing for Utah?
Do I remember?
Yeah?
No, Utah was a big That was a big moment in my career because I was hurt the whole time. I was in Golden State during that time, and I last year in my contract, I thought that I might be done, got healthy, played all eighty two games for Utah. I was like, oh, okay, I feel better. So back in Utah special place in my art because then I went to Dallas, then went to Cleveland.
Jerry Sloan, right, you're in Utah.
No, no, no, no, no, I had Jerry Sloan had just left. I had Tyron Corbyn.
Okay. So that was a transitionary period there for Utah as well.
Oh, very transitional. But they switched it up quick. You know Gordon Hayward, you know Rudy Gobert. I was there during Rudy Gobert's rookie year. So like the development of him and Gordon Hayward and they went to the postseason. They developed it pretty quick.
Yeah, we're gonna We're just gonna devote this hour to your time with the Utah jack Look.
Let me know, we can go from training camp on. We can do a hard knocks just on that seven.
But the point is you did go. You know, your time with the nets is what it was, and we're going to get into that, into the old days. But now we talked about how you came into the league. Richard. You're this high flyer, this athletic guy running gun nets there in your first couple of years, going to the finals. But the reason you lasted so long in the NBA is because you were able to change your game as you got older. And that doesn't just start with well, I'm ten years in the league, let me start working on my jump shot. I think the misconception about you sometimes is that you just relied on your athleticism. But I think you were the guy when you first came to the team that realized that, hey, I'm going to start working on my jump shot. This is the thing that kept me around the league for seventeen years.
Yeah. Well, and it's funny because people typically remember you how they remember you. If people remember my Jersey days, they were like, oh, he's really athletic. If people remember me post those days, they're like, oh, he's a really good three and D player. So it just all it's all about how you get remembered in that certain slot of time. You know, Like my role with the Cads going to the finals was very different than my role going to the nets, you know, with the finals. So no, the one thing I will say though, is that you have to like adapt or die in any industry, it doesn't matter what it is. And I look at players, you know, guys that have struggled with the role changes, whether it's you know, Alan Iverson or Carmelo Anthony. You know, these are Hall of famers and there is questions about where their role is going to fit. And so you know, I learned that, hey, if I want to continue playing, my days of a twenty point of game scorer are are gone. If I want to keep playing, my days of being a full time starter are probably gone. So then it's just about matter of accepting that role with enthusiasm, and a lot of that comes from can you find ways to contribute it. For me, it was you know, putting in a decade of working on your shot.
When you got to the league, did you realize that the shot wasn't where it was, or did you think, well, I just I'll adjust. I mean, what was your thought of coming into the league. Did you just recognize that you have that self awareness that this is something that I needed to improve on to stay in the league.
Yeah, but again the league was far different. You could have more guys on the floor that didn't shoot today, you couldn't have that. I was a play defense first and get on the court guy. And then you realize, like, hey, I'm twenty years old. If I can improve my shot, if I can do it, but it's an every day process for years. So the way I just viewed it was if I can already see I can do this and I can play different defense, I just need to improve my shot. If I improved my shot, X y Z, what happened. And I felt the increase like I was going to get open shots because no one was going to guard me. But it was more of just a transition of the competent Larry Drew. He showed up my third year and I had a big jump, and we were putting in work every day and I wasn't really shooting threes. I shot less. I shot more threes my rookie year than I did my second year. So my third year, that's when Larry Drew was like working with me every day. He was working on my seeming, the ball, all the different things. And he was like, Richard, why aren't you shooting? And I was like yeah, whatever, And he very similar to what I told you about Dennis Smith Junior. Last night of the game, Larry Drew was like, Richard, won a game. Won a game because I wasn't shooting him. I was just driving and still scoring fifteen, sixteen points nine. He was like, shoot, won a game. I was like okay, And I started shooting one a game and I started making one a game and I was like oh, because it was like I had put in the work for three years and him and I, he was like, hey, look, no one is going to no one is going to try and contest your shot, no one's going to try and block it. You're gonna have all day to shoot it. And so I started doing that and next thing, you know, my three point percentage was thirty five percent. Now, if you can shoot thirty five percent from three and you're athletic, you become a problem very quickly. And Larry Drew was a person that helped me do that, But it was because I had put in work. He saw me putting in work, saw that I wasn't shooting. It was like Richard, shoot won a game if you if you make it, give me another one. And that was you know, And so once that mindset was like, Okay, I'm just going I know, I'm going to shoot one a half in one a game. If I if I missed ten in a row, that'll be over a ten game span. That ain't gonna change shit. But I made a couple and rest is history.
We're going to get back to your playing days and I want to talk about the conference finals nets. I want to start though where we are right now as it you come in now and you have risen in the ranks of broadcasting. We say you start out with yes, and you know now you're at ESPN. I mean you guys are you're doing all you know, huge games, your your studio presence, your social media presence. You became a podcasting star, all this stuff. When when you were entering the NBA, I know podcasts really didn't exist yet, but not that you ever saw yourself doing it. But what was your sort of view of the media. I mean, you're always good to speak to, but what was sort of your your view of that and how maybe has that changed now that you're sitting in that chair and you're doing what you do right now.
Well, it was just tough. Like I got to New York and in two thousand and one and everyone talks about it being a very difficult media market, which it is, and you learn not to say anything. You learn not to say anything. That was you know, it was in the Derek Jeter era where it was like less is more right. Just go and say the minimum of what you have to say, so it's not going to get spun. So it's not going to get Oh there's eight reporters there and you said something sideways and then the next day there's fifteen reporters there, and so, you know, my view of the media, especially coming in was very just like, hey, this is a part of it. I'm being told this is the way to handle it. So, you know, I didn't show a lot of personality like in the media. People didn't know that there was that, you know, kind of who I was, because when I first came in, you're taught to not show any of that and so you know the way I view the media space now that I'm into it. And Frank was the Frank was the most annoying person our producer.
Frank.
He would hit me up for the last like five years of my career. At the end of the season, I was like, Hey, are you retired yet? Are you retired yet? And I'm like, Frank, as soon as I retire, I'll let you know. So that's why the yes that work was the first contract that I signed because Frank. And credit to Frank, because he had been telling me since I was like, Frank, grace, Frank, Greatgrace. He's been telling me since like my fifth or sixth year, Oh, you're gonna be great on TV. You're going to be great on TV. And he was the first person that not that dude to have other people. And I know how to speak and I can crack jokes, but he was the first person that was like trying to get his claim into me very very early on. And that's why that was the first contract that I signed, because Frank was annoying me every year, but also like I didn't I didn't even think about calling games when I first retired. It was like, oh, I'm gonna do studio stuff I want to learn, you know. Michael Strahan was setting the bar and so, and he was like, no, I'm gonna have your call games. I was like, oh, I had never ever thought of that. So the first game I ever called was on the Yes Network. So a lot of credit to to Frank and Flip and everybody you know at the Yes Network because I had a terrible interview what made me come in and he made me come in and do like a like a rehearsal in one of those booths, and my level of enthusiasm was probably as high as it is during our pregame meetings that we do. Ah and Flip was like, yeah, you were terrible. You were awful, And I was like, yeah, I probably wasn't as I didn't understand what I was doing because it's hard to get the energy in a booth. So it's just it was just a very weird experience. But uh, yeah, no, I give credit to everybody. Yes.
Well, it's got to be like a baseline. See Frank Degray saw like a baseline in you, Like he knew your personality, he knew your intelligence level, he knew your ability to articulate your thoughts and then it becomes now, you've got to learn the mechanics, right, so that that becomes now, it was still kids. You have to you have to feign the energy a little bit, you know, you got to be a little higher than you think.
Yeah, you're at Devin Harris. Devin Harris, Uh, you know, Devin. We want a former net great one of my good friends. He is in the process of doing this now and I'm watching in the games and teaching him, like, hey, you gotta how you got to project a little bit more, and you know, because he's like, yeah, I can see how my voice is down. And there's like there's so many techniques that people don't understand. And that's part of the reason why I've really enjoyed it, is because there's a tremendous amount of skill and technique that go into this that unless you're in this field you don't understand. But once you get here, you're like, oh, this is really hard and so now doing that stuff. But those are the things that that I've learned. Those are the things that when people ask me what do I enjoy most, it's learning and understanding and new craft.
And also the other aspect of it is now you're commenting on players, you're playing the game, coaches, you're coaching the game. You know you have a career. Though that that argument that people always will use is like, well, you never did it. You've done everything. I mean, you've played on all kinds of teams, you've won a championship. But I'm interested that that that role of going from being teammates or competitors with these guys and now you're you're offering commentary on them. How has that relationship been? How do you navigate those orders?
Well? Now, Chris, how long have you known me?
Long time?
Long time?
Ten years, seventeen, No, no longer than two and two thousand and two, your rookie years.
My oh oh oh yeah, yes, so that was a long time ago, twenty plus years. Now you can tell every one of your listeners, every one of your listeners. Am I the same person in person as I am on television?
Absolutely?
Absolutely? Just say like so I say that. I say that to say is that when I would sit next to different guys on the bench or my teammates, what they see on television is what they would see on the bench next to them, right, And so I would never say anything. I would never say anything on television that I wouldn't say right next to them. Now, I would say some crazy shit next to them, right like, yeah, that was it, but are you okay? That was a terrible shot. So if I would say that to you and I and that's I think some of the lead way I've gotten is that anybody that knows me, or if I say something sarcastic or smart ashes, they were like, man, that's just Richard. Just ignore them because that's the way Kenyan used to treat me. That's the way Jay Kid used to treat me. So now that I'm doing this on television, they are they laugh about it. They ignore me. They know that, you know. So I just follow that rule that if I wouldn't say it to a player's face, then I wouldn't say it about him on television. And people might not feel it that's the case because I say so much smart as shit, but I would say a lot of smart as shit to people's faces.
Well, it's different when you're saying it to him on the bench. Yeah, you could laugh it off, as opposed to you're saying it to millions of people.
Yes, agreed, and somebody it's it's what you say and how you say it, Like I'm not you know, oh he's tragile, he sucks. Oh he's awful. He's like no, no, no, no, that's not what it is. It's just like, look, you can be very critical of a player, very critical, and be one hundred percent fair.
You can't.
And you could say the exact same statement in a different way with the same type of criticism and not be fair. So my job, in my opinion, is to protect the players first. That's that's my job is to protect the players from a respect standpoint and make sure that my analysis and how I talk about them is from a respectful space. Like I don't I don't talk about trades and I don't I don't allude to random things because I know that they have kids and they have families, and if I say something that alludes to a trade, an article might come up and his twelve year old kid could see this at school the next dand and think that he has to move. So I understand the impact of words can have. So that's just the rules that I live by.
When it comes to coaches and production meetings and things like that. Do you find yourself because I was. I always thought this, like, I want to know all the information, not that I want to broadcast it, but I want to know if I'm if I'm off based on something, or I'm right it is. I would imagine you're relationship now with coaches has changed a little bit in terms of how you gather your information, what you can share, what you can't share, and what you want out of those personal relationships.
Now, well, I think is to better understand the story and to better understand the analysis of the game. Right if I'm wondering why this guy doesn't play more, I'm wondering why this guy doesn't play more, and I'm being critical of a coach that because this guy is really good and he's not playing, and that's all I'm seeing from the outside end. But if I talk with the coach and the coach is like, Oh, this guy doesn't do any extra work, this guy has trouble remembering the plays. This guy has this Now, not that I'm going to go back and be critical of the player, but I will be less critical of the coach now that I have this information. And so it's like, oh, and so it's like and that's a real kind of simple way to put it. But it's like the more information you have, the more accurate of a story that you can tell, right. And it's like, then if the player comes in the game, it's like, hey, look X and so and so player, he's got to be able to be sharp, he's got to be able to be clean, he's going to make sure he's doing the sets proper. That's how you get more time. So now I can say something from an information standpoint that is far more accurate than just saying, why is this guy not playing? He's talented, they need to give him a chance. And so those are the benefits that come from talking from with coaches now, And that's that's kind of the thing that I've learned and gathered from it. And you want something that gives a better that helps you understand kind of a narrative in a story, and then you want something that can't be said on television but is good information to add. Like that's the thing that I try and get when I listen or talk to coaches.
Yeah, and all these relationships that you've had and all these teams you play, organizations you play for coaches assistance, you've got you've got somebody in every organization basically that can give you the inside scoop on what's going on. I mean, that's that's why you are where you are right now.
Well, the league is also very dramatic. But I'm not I'm not Woj, I'm not trying to break stories. I'm not Ramota Shelberg.
Yeah, I just want to.
Talk about basketball. So like that's so, basketball is where I live. I don't care about people's drama. I don't care about who's who's hooking up with who. I don't care about who wants this and now I just want to talk about basketball. But I will say this, I'm at the age now where a lot of the coaches are guys that I played against, Like I played against and had Griff as a coach, t lou JB. Bickerstaff, Jamal Moseley, you know a lot of these coaches, Luke Walton, all of these guys, I've all we've all kind of grown up together. So you know, I'm just in this space and they went to that space. So that's something that helped, you know a lot of these relationships.
Let's go back. You mentioned Kenyon Martin, Jake Kidd, so you're really the way you were and the way you would tell it like it is, can you tell did did Kenyon Martin ever just really want to like strangle you?
Oh? Well, everyone wants to strangle me. That's not that's not anything new. But one of the areas that I typically do a pretty good job of a natural guy though that Yeah, well it was like I do a pretty good job of towing the line, right, I get right to that line and then but you have to be able to you know, you have to be able to kind of make sure that you're not crossing any lines. And Kenyon is a very very h He's a very good line set setter. He will set a line and kind of keep that and you know it. But you know, there was, you know, the fight that we famously had in Portland. I think it was my rookie year, I think, But that was that was less about me, right well, it's a little bit about me running my mouth, but not to him. And you know, even in that fight, me and Kenyon were both one professionals and we were like brothers and he was like a big brother. So like when the it happened, we both understood why it happened, and we you know, we had no as men like, we had no hard feelings. We were closer after it, but yeah.
Scala anymore. Scalabrini said that that incident was a misunderstanding and that he scal ended up trying to get between you guys in the locker room and he actually got the worst of it than anybody did.
That's not Scout. Scout will obviously involved himself in any situation possible. But Aaron Williams got the worst of it, which is the most scary thing because he got he got a couple of stitches, so scou didn't have to get stitches, so he didn't get the worst. Scout might have got some of it. Scout might have got. Yeah, Aaron Williams, who doesn't talk, and just told me because the seat was right in front of mine, and he was like, you're lucky. I like you, Tella, And I was just sitting because Aaron could have thrown us all away and just strangled me because he's like the whole he is.
He is the strong, silent type. There's no doubt about that. That team, I mean those teams that the two oh three, let's go, let's go back now to the glory days of Nets basketball, because you guys go to the NBA Finals for the first time, you're a rookie and you know, I don't know what you're pursue, You're from You're originally from LA. So you know that the relationship over the years of like the Clippers Lakers relationship, I think the Nets were it was a little different, but I don't think before you got there it was really off. I think what would put the Nets at a different level is that they went to the NBA Finals twice and you were a part of that that. How would you surmise that Net team when you arrived and then what you think you guys were able to do for a franchise, because I don't know if any franchise ever changed more than the Nets with that team.
I would say no. I look back now, I think there was one franchise that the Clippers were that franchise and you saw some some Elton brand years and then I think Lob City definitely kind of changed the Clippers into oh, you know, these guys are marketable like all these things. But I think if you go back in NBA history, I think we had the third biggest turnaround in NBA history from one season to the next. We were picked the finish last or second to last in the conference, and we won the conference. That I'll again, I can't remember a time that that's ever happened, even in mod like pick the finish last and finished first. You know, Sacramento might have been close to that, but even them, they got knocked out in the first round last year versus going to the NBA Finals. So you know, to me, that was the way I view that team is. Were we able to get the NBA Finals?
No?
Where we You know Tim Duncan, I sat next to him when one year we're traveling and working with Spurs, and he asked me, He goes, hey, did you what did you did you guys think you know, did you think you have a chance? You know before we played in the finals, And I go go, yeah, I thought I did. And then his response was, yeah, I thought it was fifty to fifty. So to have a Hall of Famer like that say that going into that he thought it was a fifty to fifty chance. Lets me know how good we were. We won ten straight games in the postseason when we when the last time we did that was with the Calves. It was with the Calves and they were talking about it and they're like, man, you guys won ten straight in the postseason. And they're like, do you know do you know the last team to do that? And they were like, go one nets and I was like, it was like, yeah, multiple times in my postseason career, I've won ten games in a row. That's hard to do. And so no, I look at our group and I just think that we were a great group. It was definitely an era and we dominated. We dominated the Knicks, We dominated the Eastern Conference. We went to two finals, second round, and we kept losing to the champion. We lost the Detroit Pistons they wanted, We lost, the Miami Heat they wanted, We lost the Spurs we lost, So we kept losing to the champion, and like we were up three to two against San Antoni, are up three to two against Detroit, and you know, we ended up losing that series. So there were so many great things, But I don't think there was ever a question of that team's effort.
What did Jake Jason Kidd obviously is the huge part of that. The first training camp, you guys are getting ready for training camp. Do you recall there's kind of that that folklore of him going in to talk to you guys like before training camp at at dinner and just said, like the losing stops now, like don't even think about it, do you do you recall that? Yeah?
I remember that well. I think people don't understand me as an Arizona kid. I remember when Jason Kidd got traded to to Phoenix and it was like, as a Magic Johnson West Coast kid, like I'm like, Oh, Jason Kidd, he's the best passer. It's like, oh, how much fun would he be playing for him? Especially as like an athlete. So growing up in Arizona when I was streaming when I was I got traded to the Nets draft day and the next day is when Jason Kidd got traded. I almost wrecked my car when I heard the news that Jason Kidd was going to be playing with the Nets, and I grew. I was in Phoenix when he was playing for the Phoenix Sun, So it was like I was like, oh my god, like I'm about to play with Jason Kidd. That's like playing with Magic Johnson. That's like if you're a receiver, and you get to play with Patrick Mahomes like playing with Jason Kidd is that dude? And so I was when Jake Kidd and I met him once or twice, but when I first saw him and we had the meeting, and I was when Jason Kidd says, oh, I think we're gonna make the postseason. Me as a twenty year old rookie, I was like, well, shit, yes, we're gonna make the postseason. I don't know what that looks like. But if he's telling me that and I've watched him play, then I believe that. And that was really the That was the belief that he had and everyone he injected it into everyone, and that was just kind of the way we approached it, like, Hey, our best player thinks were this, so then that's what we are.
Everybody'll always ask me what's my most memorable game in Nets history? And I always say, you know, I've been doing this now twenty three years as the voice of the Nets, and I still go back to the very first playoff series All Game thousand and three, two thousand and two, Game five against Indiana. Ah, I don't know, I don't There's never been a game like that.
The PTSD.
Well, you guys won the game, obviously, double overtime. Reggie Miller in institute of the replay rule after that, because it's first the one that you know shouldn't have counted it. But I remember walking out of that My final call in that game was twenty thousand people start to file out of AAZAC Center, exhausted because I felt the crowd game and everything they had. You Ice gave it everything you had, and that Indiana team was like, really, they weren't your typical eight seed and all the stride you guys had made that year, it would have just disappeared if you didn't win that game.
Oh that that was one of those games that just doesn't make sense. Like one, it was the last time that there was a seven games or it was a five game series. So the first round wasn't.
Five games five game series.
Yeah, it was a five game series, it wasn't seven. And then you go back and you think, so that team they made a trade in the middle of the year at the trade deadline to get Brad Miller and to get ron our Tests, so that team the next year was the number one seed. So that team wasn't the ahe seed. It was kind of like the Lakers last year. They made a bunch of trades at the trade deadline and then they go to the conference finals. That team was very different. So that Indiana team had so much talent and they were that was the first year. The next three years they were like, you know, the best team in the conference of the best teams. So to get a team that good with Reggie Miller. Then we get into the series and it's back and forth. Get the rebound, I break these two free throws. Like break the two free throws that would have sealed the game. Reggie hits a shot that shouldn't have counted, that shouldn't have counted at that point in time, like I'm seeing, like I'm I'm I'm aware of the moment, you know when they say, like be in the moment. I'm aware that Reggie just hit a game time free throw and our season could be over in overtime. Like I would have never forgiven myself to this day. I'd like I always Joe, like j Byron Scott said, he tried to start me in the overtime, but he saw that I had completely checked out, Like I was, so I was so like mad that I just couldn't even I couldn't even see. He's like, man, I try to give you some more time, but and so then he got me out so that I just had to sit and watch. I had to sit and watch my team try and survive and save our season off of miss free toes. Damn it hate that game.
Glad we won? You're glad? You want so you don't maybe you don't think about it as finally or you think about it? Do you do you think about the game finally or is it just always that misrethrow is gonna just always sit with.
You both both. I can think about a mist I can it can change the course of how you do things right and how fortunate you are, because if you lose that, then the next season, you know what, you don't know how your team We've played with such a confidence after that first year that there was no shaking us, and so uh yeah, no, I don't. I don't know how things would have gone differently if that it's I said, just made one of the damn free toes and we'd been.
Fined be getting to play in the NBA finals your first two years in the league. I mean, that's another thing that sort of hits you like, oh, this is just gonna happen all the time, and then you know it doesn't happen for a very long time, and fortunately for you you got to go back at some point in your career. But a lot of guys never get to do that.
No, I And look, I was coming off a national championship and then to NBA Finals, so I was really I was. I was having a good time. But No, I looked at it as like, yeah, like if you apply with the level of confidence and like this is where I was supposed to be, so you know, But I would say the hardest part is, like, you know, winning a championship. I tell people, it's like you get why it's so hard, But it's like I went to the NBA Finals four times, and one year I played against Shaq and Kobe, one year m Phil Jackson. One year I played against Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Mono Genobili, Tony Parker, and Greg Popovich. The next year I play against the seventy three win Golden State Warriors. The next year I play against the seventy three win Golden State Warriors that added Kevin Durant, like, are you listening to these teams? You're all hearted to beat those teams, so you know, just getting there is an accomplishment and winning them is the greatest. But yeah, I wish I would have won more, But I'm also fairly realistic that we were going against some juggernauts.
To just get back to Jason Kidd for a minute, and you know, his lasting imprint on this organization, this Nets organization, it can't even be measured. And I know you talk about the team almost didn't make sense, right, You guys come out of nowhere and go to the finals, and it all made sense because of Jason Kidd. I mean, he was the guy that made it all make sense somehow. And you know his leadership skill. You played, you won a championship with Lebron James and a great player like that, but so different from Jason. And I don't know if I've ever met a guy that you wanted to just you never wanted to let down. I mean, everybody in your organization just had a look about Jason like you just didn't want to let him down. And I don't know if I've ever experienced a leader quite like him in all my years covering the NBA.
No, it was because I think it was also the way he played it was like the best version of him.
Is ultra competitive defensive player, and his best trade and ability is he makes other people better, Like those are that like you know, it's like his passing and it's the elevation.
So it's like, what is his value? Oh, that man right there makes every single person around him better. And he's one of the best defensive players. So he's the best defensive player, and he runs an offensive system that makes everyone look great. Like if that's your trade ability, it's like who cares what you're shooting? Who cares what you're That ability is something that very few humans have ever had. And you know, Magic does that, Jo Kicch does that, Lebron does that, they're Steve Nash there. There's there's very few in history and they all do it differently. But I think the way that Jason did it, you know, he made people run faster, he made people work harder because he would get a steal and it's like, you know, he doesn't want to shoot it, so he's moving fast, so if you want to get a layup, you better try and catch up. And so that's why we would run so fast as because you knew if you ran or if you were out first, you were going to give rewarded no hit that that he was just a special player, and we all matched perfectly.
And a lot of guys got paid from playing with Jason.
A lot of guys A lot of guys Jason, Jason, Jason A. Jason got Scot and Briny paid, He got Collins paid, got me paid, Kenyon paid, Mikey Moore paid. Yeah, you got a lot of people paid.
But like you said, he did it though, like he was just he led by example. He wasn't like smoking mirrors or doing it in a way that all right, I'm just conning everybody. No, he was. He was legit. And you know that. Do you remember when he gets in your first run to the finals where he had butts David Wesley and gets his head split open and then comes back and gets a triple double two days later.
He was just different. And he taught me so much about the game that I still talk about today. And just you know, defense got me on the court. That's one of the things that you know, he taught me. And he was like, hey, the longer you're on the court, the more chances you are going to have a score. So if you want to score more, play more defense. So you know, it's very simple.
He taught me, you know, how to to do all of the little things that help you kind of manage over the course of the season, and talking to the reps and having those relationships. So I don't know, just just to me the way I look at the amounts of stuff learned and from being around him in my.
First few years with the Nets. You know, I still try and you know project today you.
Mentioned talking to the refs. You got to be a ref summer League. Was that? Was that a humbling experience?
Real?
Heck?
Yeah, that was one I knew it was. I didn't want to do it. I was forced to do it. It was not what I wanted to do, so no, yeah, no, it was a great experience. I got to go to the seminar in Vegas and learn and see, you know, the amount of hours that these guys put into their field and the amount of prep and studying they do, and it's tax level. I've gotten nothing but respect. I always had good respect with the referees. That was part of the reason why they let me do it. You know, when my name came across the death there, they were pretty accepting and knew that I would be fair in my judgment and assessment of the process. But uh no, it was it's neck level.
Well, I'm sure as a broadcaster, now you are your test every once in a while with making a commentary on a call or something that's going on, and I'm sure they appreciate the fact that, well, you've you've worn the uniform, You've added that you have that experience, so you're going to be empathetic to what they're going through. They probably would like every analyst to at some point try to be a ref.
Well, look, I'm empathetic. But I think one of the things with refereeing is that we all have to understand, and I think the referees understand that there's human emotion. Me saying that it was an awful call is okay, right, If it was an awful call, Me saying that I don't like that call is fair. That's an emotion. Is it a fact? I might not like that call, but it might be the right call. So it's like me not you know, So I think refereeing they understand that there is going to be human emotion. So like if I'm on television, I was like, I don't like that call. It's a little TICKI tech. I didn't say it wasn't the right call. I just said I didn't like it, and that their job is not to do what I like. But I'm also echoing what a fan would say, what a player on the team's like, hey call it bowl plays, or like hey I'm not as aggressive here. So that's where you can be fair and still be critical. Right, I'm not saying that's a wrong call. I'm not saying that's a bad call. I'm not going to say, you know, I just don't understand how you can make that call, right, No, no, No, those are things that start to push those lines, and I'm more of just like, well, I guess that's how they're calling them today, you know, So you just kind of say it in a fun way and try not to be disrespectful.
Yeah, Like, we had a little banter yesterday about Sea Caucus giving us some criticism, so we we were just having some fun with them, and I know you were getting a text from somebody that was like, no, no, we're cool.
That's good.
You guys have a little bit.
Yeah, Look, this is my thing. Anybody can get it. If I can mess with if I can mess with my coworkers, if I can mess with the players, if I can mess with the referees, I can mess with Sea Caucus.
You know, Richard, you were like the first athlete to embrace podcasting. TikTok. Everybody's getting into it now. What drew you to it? Why?
I just think being able to tell your stories. Our team would go out for long dinners and we would just have random conversation about who's the best small forward, who's the best shooting guard. We would just have these long conversations, and I just thought people would enjoy hearing them, and I guess I was kind of right. So that's really what it started. And then obviously Channing Fry having him there and we just kind of crack jokes and we would do it on the road and drink some wine with our teammates, and it was actually really good team bonding. It was team building. Like all of a sudden, we would sit and with one of our teammates and we would talk for an hour about their life story. So we would walk out of that room with a better understanding of who our teammate was. We would tell stories together. So Kyle Korb, who I didn't know. I know Kyle, We're around the same class, all the stuff, play against each other. But I sat down and you share a bottle of wine and you get to know him, and you hear his Philly stories, and you find out about his family and all of these things. And it was like there was a benefit to it, just human to human that you would get that you normally wouldn't get with your teammates because it could be clickie. It could be the older guys with the younger guys. It could be different, you know, the European guys could hang out together. So teams can be clickie and you could still be a cohesive unit. But I think this brought everyone together.
Yeah, and and the social media stuff, I mean, is it just you having fun and it took off from there. It just you know that you've become like a TikTok star.
Well I didn't. I'm not dancing, I know right. Well, I'm not big on attention. And I know people find this find this like hard to believe, but I'm not big on attention. That's why I didn't have social media when I was a player. I didn't have Instagram, I didn't have TikTok, I didn't have Twitter. I didn't have any of that. Frank actually set up my Twitter on the Yes Network. And so when I retired and I started doing broadcasting, they said, then, hey, you have to create social media. You have to creature this and that. So then I started doing it. And if you're going to do it, you might as well do it. So I just kind of jumped in and was doing all the silly, fun shit you could think of. But yeah, there's a reason why I didn't have it until I was thirty eight years old. It's like I didn't want it. And so now that it's a tool for work and I see the benefits of it, it makes it a little bit easier because I don't feel I think as a player, I didn't need it, and now I wish I would have had it.
Probably a lot of you guys were happy that it wasn't around back in your playing games.
Oh my god, that's part of the reason why I didn't have it. I was like, I don't need it, there's no benefit, there's no benefit to this. And then I entered into a field where I really needed it, and that part kind of sucked.
Interacting with people though, because I see you at the arena and just interacting with fans. Sometimes you have fun with them, and that's just an extension of it, right, Like more people kind of have access to you, and I could be having negative sometimes, but it's also good to be able to connect with people out there. Yeah.
Well, and these are the people that if these people love basketball the same way I do, then we're family. We're not just you know, they're not fans because you know, I'm dedicated my life to this. You know, if you love it and you're enjoying and you're paying your money. And I remember when I was a kid and I got to go to one game, you know, as a kid, it's like, dude, this is awesome. So I try to have as much fun with everybody as possible because I realized how lucky we are.
How is fatherhood changed you, Richard?
I got two little boys and their rock stars. I think the way that it's changed me.
Is more.
I they're very similar to me. And you know, I was a big six foot seven kid. I was I was anomaly. My parents didn't play sports. That wasn't what my parents did, and so you know, I had to navigate the sports landscape kind of by myself. So for me, I think how it changes, Like I enjoy the process being a dad and taking them to Little League and taking them to basketball. Those are the things that I enjoy.
I always thought that having a child made you now learn what it was like to put someone and their happiness and their well being ahead of you. Like it it's the most selfless thing, Like you just learned you're you're always the center of your world, and then suddenly there's this person that you're responsible for, these little people that you're responsible for, and I don't know it it's it makes light It makes the world lighter for you at the same time with them it being more serious. If that's you know, even something that I could articulate.
No, it does, because it is.
For me.
It's very crazy because you get to start to see the world through their eyes and the excitement enjoy from seeing a seagull, the excitement enjoy from getting an ice cream sandwich, And no, it does. It's there's little things that I think they help keep in perspective of Like you know, kids can have the worst thing in the world happen and be upset, and then two minutes later they're over it and pushing. And I think that can be an inspiration. You know, they don't kids don't hold grudges for very long unless it's what they're sibling. So I think the thing that I've enjoyed most about being a father is seeing how much they love sports and being able to take them to parks every day and take them to every game and you know, go and you know, making sure that they're doing extra work. Like that's the part that you know, I think I probably enjoyed the most.
Yeah, and they're going to grow up a lot differently than you did.
Oh yeah, lucky jerks. Lucky jerks.
This group now with the Nets, and you've played on superstar teams, and you've played on teams that were greater than the sum of their parts, like those early NET teams. What are your impressions of you know, ten games in to this NETS group in twenty twenty three, twenty four.
I think that this team and I think the challenge for Jacquvan is I think he has two very different stars. In my opinion, I think cam Thomas is one of the best young one on one players in this league. I think mckel bridges is one of the best young system players, and I think finding the combination that allows Cam the space to be the one on one stud and also a system that allows mckel bridges to flourish and get a rhythm. To me, I think that that is where we're going to find out where the Nets team is. Because they have a talent bunch of talented wings. You know, they probably need some big depth, you know, because we see the difference between having Claxon and not having Claxton. You know, Sharp has been doing a very very good job, but you know, I think he's a you know, he's a power forward forward guy. So you know, I think the size that they that they could meet against, you know, a team like the Knicks or a team like Cleveland, I think they definitely probably would need some more size. But I think collectively this is a good group. They seem like they're getting along. And when you're in the trenches and you're one of those teams that that every single night you could be beat by anybody, and you could beat anybody on any single given night. If they beat Boston, if they beat Milwaukee if they beat the Lakers at Denver, I don't think anybody would be crazy surprised. I think a lot of their success is going to end on how quickly they can figure out how to maximize both of their players. They're both best. They're both best players, and in a system then that is very They're both very different in how they can excel.
All right, Richard, Richard Jefferson. Before the last thing is I always ask my guests, you could put a message, a personal slogan, something outside on that oculus at Barkley Center that the whole world can see, everybody coming out of the subway, everybody walking around the arena. Something maybe you live by a mantra, a message. Is there something you think you put up there? What do you think it would be?
No one's ever been coddled to greatness?
I love. Yeah, that's I guess you can treat your kids too, right.
Yeah, no one's ever been show me one person that's great, and they've been coddled their whole life. You'll never find it.
Richard, thanks so much for taking the time. But I know you're I know you're a busy man. I appreciate you joining us here. On the Voice of the Nets. All right, my thanks to Richard Jefferson r J for joining us. I apologize for any sensitive years out there. Richard was the the first guy to really liberally embrace cursing on the Voice of the Nets podcast. He's not the first guy to ever curse a little Voice in the Nets trivia. If you look back on all the guests, it's probably one of the last guys you would think was the first to curse on the program, but it was. It was Roy Williams, coach. Roy got so passionate about talking about Jack Vaughn, he cursed and then apologized, So it was kind of a wholesome moment as well. Before I let you go, a couple of things I listened to. I don't have a lot of time this time of year, when I got NBA games, NFL games, traveling a lot, but I do listen to some podcasts when I'm doing some other stuff or I'm driving, and you know my affinity for nineties grunge, so these things I had time for. One was Chris Shifflet, who is the lead guitarist for Foo Fighters, has a podcast about guitar playing and he talks to other guitarists, and he had Mike McCready from Pearl Jam, and the whole premise of this hour long podcast was about the guitar solo on a live and it gets very technical, and I don't know technical and guitar. I'm not a guitar player, but I listened to every minute of it and I loved every minute of it. So I highly recommend that. And then Conan O'Brien his podcast, he went and talked to Dave Grohl, Chris nova Selek, and the producer who recorded the Nirvana classic in Utero, which was their follow up to the Breakthrough Nevermind. There's an anniversary coming up with that, and they had a great Conan O'Brien's a big music guy, he's a guitar player himself, and they dive into the recording of that album, which was a huge, huge album in rock history, in Utero, and how that all came about, really interesting stuff. So I highly recommend those two things. And yeah, there you go, a little nineties grunge for you as we head deep into November. My thanks to Steve Goldberg, our producer, Chelsea Jenkins, our engineer. Thanks to the great Richard Jefferson for joining me here this week. Thank you so much to all of you for listening and subscribing and giving us a good rating. I'm Chris Corrino. Thank you so much for tuning in to the voice of the Nets.
