Mr. Jefferson is quickly becoming my favorite basketball analyst. Funny, self-aware, and honest with no personal agendas. Rare thing in sports media nowadays.

That stat on the screen is crazy. Played 82 games 4 times, 7 seasons 80 or 81 games. Good on you RJ! Glad you shared that story of your family!

One of my sons is a diehard Kobe fan. In 2012 he was begging to go see Kobe in Las Vegas I told him that it's preseason and Kobe is having knee problems so he probably won't play. Long and short we scraped to take him, Kobe played for 10 minutes at best the whole game and rested the rest of the game getting ice treatment on his knees. But those 10 minutes that he saw Kobe up close because we had floor seats behind the goal made his years.

He ain’t never lied 🙏

Thumbs up to RJ! This type of openness, truth, & professional critique is so necessary & valued. 🏀

That was the most transparent I’ve ever heard or seen Mr Jefferson

Took 2 of my little ones to see LBJ play and he sat out because of a back to back game! It crushed there experience!

100% agree! Your job is to play basketball! Just do it. It's not that hard. No player should EVER be out for "soreness."

Straight 🔥 from Richard that is what these players don’t understand. I get it if you are injured with a bad ankle sprain you can’t play that fine but that’s not what these guys do. Todays players play 3 games then say my hip is “sore” and sit out for 2 games. Guys making 46 million a year should be able to play with a sore hip. Why can’t the trainer put some bio freeze on it and you go play?? That’s the issue guys are sitting out just to sit out and getting paid with no consequences

The irony is the coach of David Robinson, Gregg Popovich, is known to have started load management.

Love or hate him, I appreciate him calling out the players on this and puts it in perspective. Respect the game.

All I could imagine was how little RJ hugging his dad after the game ❤

listened to this twice, such a great story

THIS! I didn't hear a single lie in those two minutes. if you're hurt and can't play fine, but if you can, then you should play or not get paid. If the schedule needs to be fixed, than fix it! Without the fans, these players wouldn't have a job, so make it worth it for the common fan!

How can you not love RJ!???!?

Salute RJ!

He spittin’ for real

Good thing this country allows for different opinions and perspectives

First time I have liked an ESPN video...salute R Jefferson!!!

That’s deep! I’ve been fortunate enough to see my favorite players growing up. But even so I would have been so disappointed to go to a game and my favorite players didn’t play!

Thank you RJ for the bitter truth.

This gives me a whole different perspective of Richard. This is exactly why we can't be on these platforms making comments about people we absolutely know hardly anything about. Thank you Richard for sharing. My favorite athletes are mostly role players because they are about what genuine teams should be. Loved this segment. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

Players must play. Respect to all of those players who play for the fans.

Imma tell my story it was about kobe who played through injury for this reason I wanted to see kobe play so bad bro my parents wouldn't let me cause the tickets where always on weekends they'd go to those games I finally got one shot to see him play in my life and he played through whatever he was going through I never saw him play again and I still rember that game to this day that's what it should mean to these players some kids only get to see someone play maybe once in there life

Awesome perspective, being the young fan inspired by the game and as a professional showing up and playing because he understands that some fans can't afford to go to games regularly.

Players rarely play all 82 games nowadays. Richard Jefferson did it 4 times!

I love the bucks and I remember when I was in high school my dad took me to see them play in the early part of Giannis being great and it was an otherworldly experience to get to see him play. I’ve been to games since then where he hasn’t played and it simply doesn’t feel the same. The FEELING inside the arena was completely different without him. That’s what people don’t realize. We can feel their absence

A very underrated aspect about Michael Jordan and his place as the "GOAT" is the fact he didn't believe in the so called load management. Basically what RJ described is the reasoning behind MJ not doing it. He would always say something along the lines of always doing his best to play and doing so at a high level cause you never know who's watching the game for the first time or of they'll even be able to ever afford another ticket.

This is why MJ is the greatest.

Thank you for sharing RJ.

That’s the point that everyone misses. Think of the families that don’t have it like that and going to a game is an unaffordable luxury. It’s disturbing how others keep excusing multimillionaires from doing their jobs. If back to back games are an issue then eliminate then.

I like what he said at the end these players are being told what to do by the teams most of them want to play

Speak RJ!! 🗣️🗣️

Poppa Jefferson the real MVP! ❤️

That was real 💯

My buddies heart was broken last year when we went to a Clipper Sun game & Chris Paul & Devon Booker didn't play & I didn't even want to go to the game because I'm a Lakers fan!

Flashback to the MJ and Kobe interviews with Ahmad Rashad. Straight up legends. Thanks RJ.

I left it all on the floor in high school and ripped my ACL, meniscus and patella tendon. I was one of the top prospects coming out of Lousiana in 1994. Didn't even make it to college.

I’ll never forget going my first Bulls game in 2010 to see them play Cleveland and I absolutely loved Lebron. He sadly didn’t play and instead rested for the playoffs and it absolutely hurt. Luckily I was able to go to a game next year and saw Kobe play the Bulls which is still my best memory as a NBA fan.

Top G Richard Jefferson 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻!

💯💯 right on the money PERFECTLY said

This was some great perspective

YES 👏!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We travel 2 hours one way just to see Steph Curry for my daughter who looks up to him, and i take time off work

Love RJ but hate this take. 1) What if a player pushes through a minor injury instead of resting but makes it worse and misses more games? Now think about all the little kids who don’t get to see him play. Who’s to say that load management doesn’t lengthen a player’s career, which in turn results in more little kids watching him and getting inspired by him? 2) This entire discussion is presumably centered around watching one ‘star’ player. As fans, we are not buying tickets to ‘Damian Lillard,’ or ‘Joel Embiid,’ etc. - we’re buying tickets to watch the Blazers or the 76ers, etc. What kind of message are we sending to our children if we are saying tickets are only worthwhile if you get to see the star player? Isn’t this a team sport? Isn’t the concept of teamwork one of the most important values that sports helps us instill in children? Every single person playing in the NBA is amazing at what they do. Let’s be better fans and appreciate every NBA player and not only the ‘stars.’ 3) On that note, who’s to say that the guy replacing the ‘star’ player on a load management day won’t have an amazing game? Perhaps it’s a young player who has their breakout game, and perhaps a kid in the crowd gets to witness and be inspired by the dawn of a new future star. 4) As a fan, I want my team to win the championship, or at least get as close as they can. If the team believes load management is their best strategy for success, then I’m on board. What kind of fans are we if we demand to see the star player when we go to the game even if it’s at the detriment of the team we claim to root for?

I watched this live!

As a guy who grew up a TMac fan, this brought back some painful memories lol.

That last part about players being controlled tho 😮

Thank you!!!

That was a powerful story

Thank you thank you thank you

The only nba game I've ever been to was Lakers vs suns Jan 2016 to watch Kobe in his last season but was out that night unfortunately. My parents drove me and my brother from Las Vegas just for the game while waited they out at a restaurant and drove back the same night. Still a little bummed about it to this day.

Admiral!!!! Admiral!!! Aaaaaaaa admiral!!!!!

Yo Rich is a real one for this

When Jefferson mentioned there was oy 1 coach and I agree, if you look around the league now, there are so many assistant coaches. I watched The Rise of the Lakers, I never knew back then, there is only 1 assistant coach on the team

Imagine being that kid to go see your favorite player and he fully healthy but decides not to play because he doesn’t feel like it.

Preach it RJ

I cannot agree more.

Money makes you more of what you already are.

This is one of those we haven't talked about me for a while moments

RJ has heart man.

Rich seems like a good dude man.

This makes me like and respect Richard Jefferson so much more.

Thx for sharing your story. I could relate coz I worked so hard to pay tix to see the return of Vince Carter coming back as a nets against the Raptors and imagine he sat out?

RESPECT.....#8#24

Totally agreed

The right message for today's superstars

Much respect RJ.

A true man of the people

Mr. Jefferson such a real one. Love this. Call out all those lazy ungrateful players

Preach

I dream of having the chance of attending an nba game but because of load management I am not sure if I will be able to see my fav player in action on the day. It would be nice of the organisations were more transparent and told us ahead of time if someone isn't available for that game because of load management

Agree 100%

Get em Richard

That’s a dope story. Shouts out to RJ and his father.

I’m honestly torn on the idea of load management. I agree with RJ but at the same time not taking time to rest and/or take care of their bodies cut a lot of careers short like Larry and Isiah but I also think of D Rose playing while his team was up big in a playoff game and then tearing his ACL and never being the same after that. Then there are players like Kawhi who abuse it. He’s a great player but I can’t even say he’s top 10 in the league right now because he doesn’t play enough

Lots of Greats have short prime or short career between 8-14 bec. of injuries/playing style. But what made them great is by "playing" very well, not by sitting/resting very well or playing SAFE. Luck is also part of sports/competitions. No matter how often you sit, injury could have happened. These guys just want a longer career and money.

What Richard is saying is completely valid from a fans point of view, but at the end of the day, it's a business. If my team is sitting top 3 in the conference, and my star player played 10-12 games in a row and we're playing some poor teams, obviously I'll want to rest him and save him from a potential injury. It's just that simple

That touched my soul smh

There’s a difference between being injured, and resting

Load management is single handedly destroying the game

The teams are also forcing players to get rest in a middle of a tough schedule even if they are not injured. Hoping to get this addressed somehow on the next CBA.

Wanted to see Lebron vs Zion waited till day before to buy tix make sure they both were going to play, preach RJ !!! My self too

It does hurt when you go to see your favorite player & he's not playing. My story is a little different, it wasn't the player's fault in my story. I live in Milwaukee, but Kobe was my favorite player. When I was like 17, me & my friends had been planning to go see him for a while now. Keep in mind, this was pre-social media & smartphone days. We didn't buy tickets until we got there. After we bought tickets & got inside, we overheard a bunch of people talking on their phones saying stuff like "What Kobe isn't playing?! He got suspended?!?" So the night before, he inadvertently smacked Marco Jaric in the face after shooting a jumper, but for whatever reason, David Stern & the NBA didn't announce the suspension until moments before the game. So many fans were upset, we basically went there to watch Brian Cook play the Bucks 😂 lol. Sadly, I only got to witness Kobe once & it was his final game ever in Milwaukee. I was old enough at that point to splurge on expensive tickets & go to his last game here.

Love it

Great story....how many people can have this or something similar. Players are supposed to take every individual fan into consideration 🤔

When fans stop showing up like the early 90s, NBA will listen.

WOW!!! That's deep. I 1000000% agree with Richard Jefferson. Way too many players getting off days but yet getting paid 100million. Look about the amount MJ, Kobe, Bird, Magic, etc. played vs paid and compare than to the top players today. Exclude injuries

This the first argument against load management that has me going damn…I might have to reconsider my position on. This

This is what the players wanted back in the day now it's happening

Amen RJ

I really respect RJ

I been to one game my entire life and I live in the dmv and is a DIEHARD dwade fan and the one time my mom suprised me to go to the game he was hurt and Ik he was hurt going into the game but it was the fact he didn’t travel with the team he didn’t even have to play for my dream to fulfill I just wanted to take man from my tv to real life and it’s breaks my heart he wasn’t there that day all I can remember is staring at the bench for most of the game. I still love you dwade but that hurt g

These me first new dudes too great 4 that

Amen.

All of this is very true. Also.... Player on a non guaranteed contract coming from a bad injury: comes back anyways. Leaves it all on the floor. Glad to see the kids be happy to see him. And gets injured. Contract dead. Dream dead. He left it on the floor though lol

I live in Central Florida 241 miles from Miami. I'm a huge basketball fan my 9 year son loves The Heat and Jimmy Butler. I have no problem paying for those Heat tickets but will Jimmy be playing 🤔. When we get there?

truth about how much the game has changed and the impact it has on the average family who pay their hard earned $$ to attend games or like that young boy whose family traveled from afar to see Jimmy Butler play. don't know honestly if he is injured but the load management is based on resting players and still get paid 🤷

The players aren't doing what they're told. They're doing what they can get away with. Kawhi, one of the serious violators of load management, said he's not playing if he doesn't feel 100%...

My brother dropped almost 200 on Christmas for me and my wife to go to a bucks game and giannis jrue and khris sat for that game the next game playing the same team giannis has his career high

I hope someone shows this to J. Will