Former NBA player-turned-host for ESPN, Richard Jefferson, claimed that the title-winning Golden State Warriors teams led by Stephen Curry were historically disrespectful.
According to SFGate, the former NBA player and a Cavalier stated that the Warriors were historically disrespectful during the 'BS or Real Talk' segment of the show 'The Jump.' Jefferson had joined host Rachel Nichols and also former NBA Player and a Warrior, Matt Barnes. Richard Jefferson is a member of the 2016-2017 Cleveland Cavaliers team that lost to the Warriors in the 2017 NBA Finals.
During the post-game interview of their loss against the Los Angeles Lakers, the star point guard mentioned that even when they were playing well, teams still want to beat them badly as they still have a lot of memories from the last five or six years, based on Bleacher Report.
When asked to react regarding the recent remark of the All-Star point guard of the Golden State Warriors on the Monday episode of the show, Jefferson claimed that the game has changed. He also asked his co-hosts if they remembered all of the turning around and high-fiving on each other because Steph is that good of a shooter, as he pointed out that if it happened in the 90s and the early 2000s, it would have resulted in a fight. He is 100 percent sure about that, which is why he stated that the rules have changed, Cavaliers Nation reported.
Even co-host Rachel Nichols agreed to Jefferson's statement that the actions would result in a fight if it happened in the early days of the league.
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He also added that the high-fiving and celebrating made threes before the ball goes in did not exist until 2015. Jefferson also shared that even a player like Gilbert Arenas never did any of those actions in the early 2000s.
Jefferson pointed out that the Golden State Warriors teams were doing 'historically disrespectful stuff inside the court while whooping opponents. And now that they are down, there is no doubt that NBA teams will not care how far down they are as teams will keep their foot on the gas pedal.
Meanwhile, Matt Barnes, the former teammate of Stephen Curry, also shared his experience while playing alongside Curry. Barnes said that it feels different to be in that team as it was not just like playing. They enjoyed the game, and Barnes asked his co-hosts who would not want to be in that team. Barnes played for several seasons in the Warriors' uniform in his NBA career.
On the other hand, some experts said that it is just normal for Jefferson to react like that. They pointed that Richard Jefferson experienced it first hand and struggled in most of his stint with Cleveland, as they could only get a single ring out of the Warriors.
For some analysts, Jefferson's claim was true, but it was not a big deal as Cleveland got one of the most difficult rings to achieve in the NBA.
