Richard Jefferson
New Jersey Nets forward

Richard Jefferson was diagnosed with asthma at age eight.
Through Project E.R.A.S.E., he hopes to help asthmatic
children reach their full potential.

POSITION: Forward
HEIGHT: 6-7
WEIGHT: 225
BIRTHDATE: June 21, 1980
BIRTHPLACE: Los Angeles, CA
COLLEGE: Arizona
HIGH SCHOOL: Moon Valley HS, Phoenix, AZ
DRAFTED: Houston, First Round (13th overall), 2001 NBA Draft
ACQUIRED: From Houston, June 27, 2001
CONTRACT STATUS: Signed through 2004-05 season
YEARS PRO: 4

CAREER TRANSACTIONS: Selected after junior season by the Houston Rockets in the First Round (13th pick overall) of the 2001 NBA Draft... Draft rights traded along with draft rights to Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong to the New Jersey Nets for the draft rights to Eddie Griffin on 6/27/01.

2004-05: Averaged 22.2 ppg and 7.3 rpg, 4.0 apg, 1.00 spg in 33 games... Scoring average jumped from 18.5 ppg in 2003-04 to 22.2 ppg (3.7 ppg increase)... Missed a total of 49 games due to injury with a ruptured ligament in his left wrist (1/11-4/20)... Underwent surgery on 1/20 to repair the wrist... Averaged team-highs of 22.2 ppg and 7.3 rpg through the first 33 games of the season... Recorded 23 out of 33 games with 20 or more points and a personal best 10 straight 20+ point outputs from 12/6-12/27... Ranked 11th in the NBA in scoring, 5th in minutes per game (41.1), 8th in free throws made (227) and 10th in free throw attempts (269) at the time of his injury... Led the Nets in scoring in 24 of 33 games played... Recorded nine double-doubles on the season... Moved into 8th place on both the Nets all-time free throws made list (1,097) and free-throws attempted list (1,438)... Was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played Monday, December 6 through Sunday, December 12... Led the Nets to a 3-1 record in the week, posting 24.5 ppg on 51.6% field goal shooting and 66.7% three-point shooting, while averaging 6.0 rpg and 5.0 apg... Recorded his ninth double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds on 1/5 at Milwaukee... Set career-highs in points (42) and free throws made (16) on 12/22 vs. Cleveland... Recorded a team-high 38 points, five assists and four rebounds in 47 minutes at Toronto on 12/19... Recorded his eighth double-double of the season with 26 points and 11 rebounds on 12/17 at Memphis... Registered 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists in 43 minutes at Atlanta on 12/11... Tallied sixth double-double of the season with team-highs in points (26) and rebounds (11) along with four assists in 41 minutes at Denver on 11/23... Recorded career-highs in rebounds (21) and minutes (57) and added 26 points on 11/5 at Chicago.

PRO CAREER: Averaging 15.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg and 2.9 apg, while shooting 47.8% from the field in 274 games over four NBA seasons... Played for Team USA in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece... Was also a member of the 2003 USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team which won gold in the 2003 FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Puerto Rico... 2003-04: Averaged 18.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 3.8 apg and 1.12 spg in 82 games... Played and started in a career-high 82 games... On the season, he ranked 1st on the team in points (18.5 ppg) and minutes (38.2), and 3rd in rebounds (5.7), while shooting 49.8% from the floor... The 49.8% from the floor ranked him 12th in the NBA... Ranked T-17th in the NBA in minutes per game (38.2)... Recorded four games with 30 or more points this season (31 points vs. Seattle on 12/9, 30 vs. Washington on 1/14, 30 at Philadelphia on 1/27 and a season-high 35 points at Cleveland on 3/27)... The Nets were 3-1 when he scored 30+ points in a game... Recorded nine double-doubles and 38 games with 20+ points... The Nets were 23-15 when he scored 20 or more points... Led the Nets in scoring 34 times and 13 times in rebounding... The NBA named Richard Jefferson the 'Eastern Conference Player of the Week' for games played Monday, March 29 through Sunday, April 4... With Kidd and Martin out, Jefferson averaged 22.5 points on .579 shooting, 8.8 rebounds and 6.8 assists in leading the Nets to a 3-1 record... Set a career-high with 12 assists vs. Atlanta on 4/4... Recorded 13 games with 20+ points in the month of March... Recorded a team-high 28 points, season-high 14 rebounds and five assists in 48 minutes at Washington on 3/31... Recorded a season-high 35 points in 43 minutes at Cleveland on 3/27... Recorded 20 or more points in six straight games from 3/3 through 3/14... Recorded a double-double with a team-high 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in 44 minutes at LA Lakers on 3/7... Tallied a team-high 26 points on 6-11 shooting in 42 minutes and recorded the 3,000th point of his career at Phoenix on 3/3... Recorded his 1, 000th point of the season vs. LA Lakers on 2/29... Notched his 200th steal of his career at Philadelphia on 1/27... Recorded 27 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for his sixth double-double of the season in 42 minutes vs. Detroit on 2/10, while shooting 13-18 from the line... Tallied 25 points, seven rebounds and two assists in 32 minutes vs. Boston 1/25... Scored 31 points on 10-13 shooting from the field in 37 minutes vs. Seattle on 12/9... Recorded first double double on the season, finishing with 24 points on 6-9 shooting from the field, including 12-13 from the free-throw line and 10 rebounds, in 30 minutes vs. Memphis 12/3... Totaled eight points, eight rebounds and a career-high five steals in 37 minutes vs. New York on 11/14... 2002-03: Averaged 15.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.5 apg and 1.00 spg while shooting a team-high 50.1% from the field in 80 games... Improved numbers in eight categories from rookie season including: ppg, rpg, apg, spg, bpg, FG%, FT% and minutes... Scoring average jumped from 9.4 ppg a year ago to 15.5 ppg (6.1 ppg gain), which tied for fourth in the NBA in point differential from the previous season... One of 13 players in the NBA to have shot better than 50.0% from the field on the season... Ranked 13th in the NBA in field goal percentage (50.1%)... Named to the 2003 Got Milk? Sophomore team, which defeated the Rookies during All-Star Weekend in Atlanta... Scored 21 points on 10-14 shooting in the 'Rookie Challenge'... Also appeared in the 2003 NBA Slam dunk Contest during the All-Star weekend, where he finished fourth... Won first ever Eastern Conference 'Player of the Week Award' during the week of 3/24-3/31, as he averaged 26.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.33 steals per game, helping the Nets to a 3-0 record... Ranked third on the team in scoring and blocks and second in rebounds... Scored 20+ points in 19 games... Team went 15-4 in those games... Recorded 11 double-doubles and one triple-double... Led all NBA players in FG% during the month of January, as he shot 57.5% from the floor... Led the team in scoring 18 times, while leading the team in blocks 16 times... Team went 32-9 when he scored 15 or more points, 37-7 when he shot 50.0% or better from the field, 6-5 when he recorded a double-double, 2-0 when he scored 30 or more points and 1-0 when he recorded a triple-double... Totaled 42 games where he shot 50.0% or better from the floor... Averaged 26.6 ppg on 60.7% shooting from the field from 3/28-4/4... Tallied four straight games of 20 or more points during that span and led team in scoring in each game... Recorded first career triple-double, finishing with a team-high of 30 points, a season-high 11 assists and 10 rebounds, in 47 minutes vs. Houston on 3/31... Scored a team-high 22 points on 8-13 shooting from the field while collecting a season-high with four steals vs. Golden State on 3/29... Recorded a season-high 39 points on a career-high 16-22 (72.7%) shooting from the field in 41 minutes at New York on 3/28... Played a season-high 47 minutes vs. Seattle on 2/3... Recorded a DND-stomach virus from 1/31-2/1 (two games)... Tallied 22 points on 9-15 shooting from the floor, a season-high 15 rebounds and seven assists, while collecting four steals and blocking three shots in 39 minutes vs. Portland on 12/11... Recorded 22 points on 9-12 shooting from the floor, 14 rebounds, two steals and two blocks vs. Atlanta on 12/3... Recorded third straight double-double, as he scored 12 points and pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds at Portland on 11/30... Recorded first career double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in 40 minutes at Phoenix on 11/27... Scored 27 points on 9-15 shooting from the field, including 2-2 from downtown, while grabbing seven rebounds vs. San Antonio on 11/13... 2001-2002: Averaged 9.4 ppg and 3.7 rpg in 79 games... Averaged 15.2 ppg and 5.6 rpg while shooting 51-105 (48.6%) from the field in nine starts... The Nets had a record of 6-3 when he was in the starting lineup... Finished second in the NBA Rookie of the Year voting (Pau Gasol), and was named to the "Got Milk? All-Rookie Second Team"... Won "Got Milk? Eastern Conference NBA Rookie of the Month" for January, as he averaged 10.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg and 2.1 apg while helping the Nets to an 11- 4 record... In doing so, became only the fifth Nets player to ever win that award... Ranked in the top-10 in six different rookie categories... Finished as team's leading scorer off the bench... Ranked 7th amongst rookies in scoring (9.4 ppg) and in field goal percentage (45.7%)... Led the team five times in scoring, four times in rebounding, twice in assists and 11 times in blocks... Had 33 games in which he scored 10 or more points and four games of 20 or more points... The Nets were 3-1 when he scored 20+ points... Missed a total of three games on the year due to injury... Recorded a DND- sprained left knee from 11/24-11/27 (three games)... Made his NBA debut on 10/30 vs. Indiana, finishing with 12 points, three rebounds and three assists in 23 minutes... Started first career NBA game, scoring 16 points and grabbing a season-high nine rebounds in a season-high 40 minutes of action, at Cleveland on 12/26... Made second career NBA start, totaling 16 points on 6-12 shooting from the field, while grabbing seven rebounds in 40 minutes of action at Charlotte on 1/5... Recorded a season-high four steals vs. Washington on 1/16... Scored a season-high 22 points on 8-10 (80%) shooting from the floor vs. New York on 2/22... Tallied back-to-back 20+ scoring outputs on 3/26 (21 points) and 3/27 (20 points)... Notched 21 points on 6-8 (75%) shooting from the floor, including 8-8 at the free-throw line vs. Milwaukee on 1/31.

CAREER PLAYOFFS: Holds career playoff averages of 12.7 ppg and 5.6 rpg, while shooting 45.0% from the field in 55 games... Is tied for 1st in Nets playoff history in games played (55), ranks 2nd in steals (95) and free throws attempted (284), 3rd in points (701), assists (123), free throws made (192), rebounds (310), defensive rebounds (243) and minutes played (1752), and 4th in field goals attempted (553) and field goals made (249)... 2005: Averaged 15.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg and 2.3 apg in four First Round playoff games vs. the Miami Heat... Scored 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Game 3 on 4/28... 2004: Averaged a team-high 19.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 3.8 apg, and 1.27 spg in 11 games... Recorded two double-doubles and two games of 30+ points... Registered five games of 20 or more points... Tallied 23 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 43 minutes in Game 6 vs. Detroit on 5/16... Recorded playoff career-highs for points (31), free throws made (13), free throws attempted (18), minutes (53) and four assists in Game 5 (3OT) at Detroit on 5/14... Recorded 30 points, eight rebounds and five assists on 11-19 shooting in 44 minutes in Game 3 vs. Detroit on 5/9... Tallied 17 points, eight rebounds and a playoff career-high 10 assists in 43 minutes in Game 3 at New York on 4/22... Recorded game-high 21 points, five rebounds and four assists in 35 minutes in Game 1 vs. New York on 4/17... 2003: Averaged 14.1 ppg and 6.4 rpg, while shooting 47.6% from the field in 20 games... Recorded three games of 20 or more points in the postseason... 2003 NBA Finals: Averaged 13.2 ppg and 6.5 rpg... Totaled 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals in 37 minutes in Game 5 of the NBA Finals... Scored 18 points on 8-15 shooting and pulled-down 10 rebounds in 40 minutes in Game 4 of the NBA Finals... Scored 15 points on 5-10 shooting from the field in 36 minutes in Game 1 of the NBA Finals... Totaled 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists in a playoff-high 44 minutes at Boston in Game 4... Recorded a team-high 25 points on 10-18 shooting and pulled-down six rebounds in 41 minutes in Game 2 vs. Boston on 5/7... Averaged 20.3 ppg and 8.0 rpg in last three games vs. Milwaukee in Round 1... Scored a playoff-high 28 points on 9-13 shooting and grabbed six rebounds in 31 minutes in Game 4 at Milwaukee... 2002: Averaged 7.0 ppg and 4.6 rpg in 20 games... Shot 46.5% from the field... 2002 NBA Finals: Averaged 6.8 ppg and 4.5 rpg, while shooting 52.4% from the field... Recorded 16 points on 6-10 shooting from the field and four steals, while dishing off three assists in 25 minutes off the bench in Game 3 at Charlotte... Recorded 10 points, six rebounds and a playoff career-high four blocked shots in 27 minutes of action in Game 2 vs. Charlotte.

COLLEGE CAREER: Selected to All-Pac-10 Freshman Team after 1998-99 season... Helped Arizona reach NCAA Tournament three times, losing to Duke in the 2001 NCAA Championship Game... As a junior, started 34 of 35 games, finishing second on the team in blocks (24), third in rebounding (5.4 rpg), third in assists (2.7 apg) and fourth in scoring (11.3 ppg)... Picked for All-Midwest Regional Team... In national semifinal against Michigan State, poured in 17 points, adding eight rebounds and two blocks... Had strong NCAA title game against Duke, scoring 15 of his 19 points in the second half, including sinking a career-best 4-of-8 three pointers while hauling in eight rebounds... Named to All-Final Four Team.

PERSONAL: Parents are non-denominational Christian missionaries... Has two older brothers... Traveled to Africa with parents on missionary work... Meekness LeCato, his mother, also received a PH.D. in education from the University of Cambridge in London... In addition to playing basketball, Richard was a high jumper on his high school track team, recording a personal best jump of 6'10"... Had his #44 Jersey retired by Moon Valley High School on 3/4/04... Lists The Fresh Prince of Bel Air as his favorite TV show, Blues Brothers as his favorite movie and Magic Johnson as his favorite all-time NBA player... If he were not a professional basketball player, would be interested in a career in media relations/public relations.