Welcome to Rain Say Sports, today according to the US media CrowdPoints, NBA star Al Jefferson has officially announced his retirement, according to the official news of the previous BIG3 League, he will join the BIG3 League held this summer.
We know that Al Jefferson was selected by the Boston Celtics with the 15th pick in the first round of the NBA Draft in 2004, and he started as a substitute player in the first three years of his career, and finally successfully promoted to the team starter with his own efforts and talent, and in the 2006-2007 season, Jefferson was already the second scoring point on the team after Paul Pierce. However, limited to the dismal record of the Green Army's first-to-last record in the East at that time, Jefferson's performance did not attract widespread attention.
It wasn't until the summer of 2007, when a big deal took place, that people paid some attention to the main deal "chip". At that time, the Celtics brought in Garnett and Ray Allen, plus the original Pierce in the team, forming the big three that shocked the alliance. We know that although these three were not too young at that time, they had not really reached the recession period, and they were all in the final stage of their peak and their power was still there, and such a set of lineups was of course quite powerful. After that, it also contributed to the birth of the Heat's big three to a certain extent, of course, this is the last word.
Since it was Kevin Garnett, the price paid by the Green Army was naturally not small, including Al Jefferson, who began to play a good number that year. At that time, Jefferson, as a third-year newcomer, averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds per game, and if this trend continues to grow, the future is definitely an All-Star level. But the Green Army can't wait, they certainly won't back down in the face of historic opportunities, so they sent the potential inside to the Timberwolves. That's probably a good thing for Jefferson, who for the first time had absolute tactical standing in a team that was entirely bossed by him.
After coming to the Timberwolves, Jefferson began to fully display his talent, and as the boss of the team, he also began to have his own spotlight. That's when people really discovered how good this interior player's offense was. I remember watching the Timberwolves vs Rockets game, although Jefferson couldn't limit Yao Ming on the defensive end, and Yao Ming could say that he didn't have much effort to play. However, when Jefferson was on the offensive end, Yao Ming could hardly prevent him, and the two were basically a situation of mutual explosion.
So why is Jefferson so strong on the offensive end? Even Yao Ming, who has the advantage of height and weight, can't prevent him? Is he like Boozer and Okur, targeting Yao Ming with long-range shots? It is really not like this, Jefferson is an absolute technical hard steel player, he dares to single in the low position, even in the face of Yao Ming, who has a huge body advantage, Jefferson is not afraid, and why does he have this confidence? It is because his footsteps are too gorgeous, in front of his dreamy steps, even Yao Ming is difficult to deal with.
How good are Jefferson's steps? It is no exaggeration to say that this is a player whose height and arm span have shrunk, but whose footsteps are not inferior to the big dream Olajuwon. You can imagine that the difference between a basic physical quality like Jefferson and Olajuwon is not a little bit, but he can make up for the shortcomings of his own hardware and do whatever he wants on the inside line through the use of his footsteps. It shows that his technique is really too good, his footsteps have reached the point of being invincible, it can be called the "devil's pace", all kinds of realistic fake actions combined with the soft basket hand feeling, it is really difficult to be limited.
Of course, Jefferson on the offensive end is indeed fierce, but he also has a disadvantage, and his disadvantage is mainly in 3 points. One is that the vision is average, and the ability to motivate teammates is not enough, especially if considered from the perspective of a team's core interior line, he may have put too much energy into one-on-one singles, so for the surrounding situation, it is often difficult to consider whether the teammates have vacancies. This makes Jefferson always caught up in singles, and it is difficult to make the team better.
The second is that Jefferson can't defend well. At the beginning, he averaged 16+11 per game, seeing that the data was not much different from Garnett at that time, why did the Green Army still trade him? A very important point is that Jefferson is really not good at defending, his movement speed, defensive awareness, and talent level are not enough, which makes him a completely offensive but not defensive interior player. And rely on such a player to build a team? It's too hard to succeed. It's like Russell is good as the Nets boss, but for the Lakers, he's not at that level. The Green Army looked at Jefferson in a similar way.
The third is that Jefferson has glass properties and has suffered serious injuries to the cruciate ligament. We know what it means for a center player to suffer this injury, which makes the Timberwolves at the time decisively choose to trade it, and help Jefferson's younger brother Kevin Lofour. Of course, it turns out that these two generations of temporary wolf kings are almost a routine, all of them are offensive and undefended types, and the results of the team are basically half a pound and eight two.
At the same time, we also know that the ethos and trends in the league have quietly changed dramatically, when the Heat's Bosh is ready to develop three-point shooting, and the magic ball theory has become popular in the NBA. Increasing speed, emphasizing space, and multi-point passing have become the mainstream thinking, especially after the rise of the Warriors and the emergence of Curry. In this case, any traditional center forward faces a huge challenge, and Jefferson is no exception, he also needs to find his way out under the torrent of the times.
But unfortunately, Jefferson wanted to adapt in this era is too difficult. He does not have the speed advantage and cannot contribute to the offensive and defensive conversion. The second is that it does not have three-point firepower, and the tactical position is relatively monotonous. The third is too much emphasis on singles, lack of vision, and the ball to him is equivalent to falling into a black hole. Coupled with his age and the fact that he has suffered a knee injury, it is increasingly difficult to have a position in the NBA.
Not only that, even if he came to play in the CBA, Jefferson couldn't do it. Thinking about the moment when he just decided to join the CBA, the outside world even thought that this was the CBA finale, and he would do better than Brache. But the result? Jefferson averaged only 15.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 0.6 blocks per game, and his monotonous play on the offensive end was obviously not enough firepower, and the defensive end simply could not play the defensive value of an interior player. That is to say, personal reasons coupled with changes in the objective environment of basketball, his era is indeed over.
Of course, now that Jefferson has retired, looking back on his playing career, although there are some regrets, it has to be said that for a player with a 15th pick in the first round, it is already very good to be able to play at this level, although he has not become an All-Star, but at least he has been selected for the best team, and his gorgeous basket footwork has also left a deep impression on people. All in all, I hope he has all the best in the next new journey, in the BIG3 League.