Early life

Jefferson was born in Los Angeles and was raised in Phoenix, Arizona. His parents were both Christian missionaries, and he moved around frequently growing up. He attended Moon Valley High School in west Phoenix, where he was an integral part of the varsity basketball team that won the 4A State Championship in 1998.

College career

Jefferson played college basketball at the University of Arizona, under Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson from 1998-2001. During his 84-game career (77 starts), Jefferson averaged 11.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. He capped his career by leading Arizona to the 2001 national championship game. Along the way, Jefferson was an all-Midwest Regional and all-Final Four selection. He was inducted into the Pac-12 Basketball Hall of Honor during the 2012 Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, March 10, 2012.

NBA career

New Jersey Nets (2001-2008)

Jefferson played seven seasons with the New Jersey Nets and was a key element of their back-to-back Eastern Conference Championship teams of 2002 and 2003. In addition, Jefferson was a member of the USA Men's Olympic basketball team in the 2004 Summer Olympics. Jefferson competed in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 2003.

Jefferson began his career as a substitute small forward for Keith Van Horn and showed great defensive skills and all-around ability. Because of his potential, and Van Horn's conflict with power forward Kenyon Martin, the Nets traded Van Horn to the Philadelphia 76ers and trusted Jefferson as a starter. Jefferson blossomed in the role, becoming a good mid- and long-range shooter in addition to his slashing ability. On August 13, 2004, Jefferson signed a six-year, $78,000,000 contract extension with the Nets.

Jefferson missed the majority of the 2004-05 regular season after rupturing a ligament in his left wrist, an injury he claimed occurred when Detroit Pistons guard Chauncey Billups purposely undercut him on a layup attempt during a game on December 27, 2004. Jefferson ended up missing 49 games, but returned to action for the first round of the playoffs against the Miami Heat. Prior to suffering the injury, he had missed only five games in his three NBA seasons. Jefferson had been enjoying his best professional season, averaging 22.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game. Through the 2005-06 season, Jefferson continued to perform at a high level and established himself as one of the NBA's most versatile players. On January 21, 2007, Jefferson decided to have ankle surgery. After missing around six weeks, he was back in the lineup. His absence proved to be a major setback for the struggling Nets, who surged back into playoff contention once Jefferson returned.

In August 2007, Richard Jefferson pledged $3.5 million toward the University of Arizona's then-planned basketball and volleyball practice facility, which was eventually named in his honor. UA officials believe it is the largest donation ever from a former player.

He started the 2007-08 season in the best form of his NBA career. In the first 7 games, he averaged 26.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists, while also notching up 1.3 steals, 97.1% in free-throws and 49.1% in field-goals. On October 31, in a game against the Chicago Bulls, Jefferson injured his right wrist slightly, thumping his chest following a clutch three-pointer. The Nets went on to win the game in overtime. On December 4 he passed Kerry Kittles to become the Nets' second all-time leading scorer.

Milwaukee Bucks (2008-2009)

On June 26, 2008 Jefferson was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons. He was not happy with the trade at first because he planned on being a Net until retirement. However, he later expressed enthusiasm about playing alongside Michael Redd.

San Antonio Spurs (2009-2012)

On June 23, 2009, Richard Jefferson was traded to the San Antonio Spurs for Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas, and Fabricio Oberto. On June 30, 2010 Jefferson opted out of his contract with San Antonio and became an unrestricted free agent. On July 23, 2010, Jefferson re-signed with the Spurs.

Golden State Warriors (2012-2013)

On March 15, 2012, the Golden State Warriors traded the newly acquired Stephen Jackson for Jefferson, along with a conditional first-round pick.

Utah Jazz (2013-2014)

On July 5, 2013, the Warriors reportedly agreed to trade Jefferson, along with teammates Brandon Rush and Andris Biedriņš, to the Utah Jazz. The trade became official on July 10.

Dallas Mavericks (2014-2015)

On July 21, 2014, Jefferson signed with the Dallas Mavericks.

Cleveland Cavaliers (2015-present)

On August 5, 2015, Jefferson signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers finished the regular season 57-25 and made it to the 2016 NBA Finals with a 12-2 record for the playoffs.

NBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2001-02	New Jersey	79	9	24.3	.457	.232	.713	3.7	1.8	.8	.6	9.4
2002-03	New Jersey	80	80	36.0	.501	.250	.743	6.4	2.5	1.0	.6	15.5
2003-04	New Jersey	82	82	38.2	.498	.364	.763	5.7	3.8	1.1	.3	18.5
2004-05	New Jersey	33	33	41.1	.422	.337	.844	7.3	4.0	1.0	.5	22.2
2005-06	New Jersey	78	78	39.2	.493	.319	.812	6.8	3.8	.8	.2	19.5
2006-07	New Jersey	55	53	35.6	.456	.359	.733	4.4	2.7	.6	.1	16.3
2007-08	New Jersey	82	82	39.0	.466	.362	.798	4.2	3.1	.9	.3	22.6
2008-09	Milwaukee	82	82	35.8	.439	.397	.805	4.6	2.4	.8	.2	19.6
2009-10	San Antonio	81	70	31.1	.467	.316	.735	4.4	2.0	.6	.5	12.3
2010-11	San Antonio	81	81	30.4	.474	.440	.750	3.8	1.3	.5	.4	11.0
2011-12	San Antonio	41	41	28.5	.414	.421	.700	3.5	1.3	.6	.3	9.2
2011-12	Golden State	22	3	26.4	.420	.418	.686	3.5	1.5	.5	.3	9.0
2012-13	Golden State	56	1	10.1	.456	.311	.717	1.5	.6	.3	.1	3.1
2013-14	Utah	82	78	27.0	.450	.409	.741	2.7	1.6	.7	.2	10.1
2014-15	Dallas	74	18	16.8	.444	.426	.684	2.5	.8	.4	.1	5.8
Career		1,008	791	30.9	.465	.380	.771	4.3	2.2	.7	.3	13.9

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2002	New Jersey	20	0	22.1	.465	.000	.550	4.6	1.3	.6	.5	7.0
2003	New Jersey	20	20	35.6	.476	.000	.718	6.4	2.4	.8	.2	14.1
2004	New Jersey	11	11	41.8	.418	.273	.713	6.3	3.8	1.3	.7	19.8
2005	New Jersey	4	1	35.0	.400	.200	.677	5.5	2.3	.8	.0	15.8
2006	New Jersey	11	11	39.7	.545	.414	.825	4.1	4.1	.9	.4	22.2
2007	New Jersey	12	12	40.8	.482	.325	.924	5.6	2.3	.8	.4	19.7
2010	San Antonio	10	10	33.4	.486	.200	.758	5.3	1.8	.6	.6	9.4
2011	San Antonio	6	6	29.3	.387	.353	.818	4.2	.8	.5	.5	6.5
2013	Golden State	7	0	5.6	.444	.667	.333	1.0	.1	.1	.1	1.9
2015	Dallas	4	2	12.8	.357	.375	1.000	.5	.3	.5	.0	3.8
Career		105	73	31.2	.470	.320	.735	4.8	2.1	.7	.4	12.8

[ Source: Wikipedia ]