Richard Jefferson believes season will be ‘unsuccessful’ if Cavaliers don’t win title
By Nam Tran
Richard Jefferson believes the Cavaliers 2016-17 season will be considered “unsuccessful” if they don’t win the championship title.
There is a very high chance that the Cleveland Cavaliers will be swept by the Golden State Warriors on Friday night, but that is not Richard Jefferson’s biggest concern. Jefferson believes that the main thing that will make the 2016-17 season a bust is his team not being crowned the NBA champions.
Speaking to reporters after shootaround on Friday, Jefferson said if the Cavaliers don’t win the championship this post-season, then this campaign will be “unsuccessful.” He added that this is probably the same feeling for other top NBA teams too.
"“We’ve said it all along — it doesn’t matter if we lose in Game 7, what happens with tonight: If we don’t win a championship, then the season was unsuccessful. That’s it. It’s the same for them.“It’s probably the same for three teams in this league every single year. And it’s true. If we don’t win a championship, it’s unsuccessful. Nobody would be surprised at the end of the day if before this series you said the Cavs won. No one would be surprised if someone said San Antonio won a championship at the beginning of the season. No one would be, like, mind blown.”"
Jefferson has had his heart broken in the NBA Finals before. Back in 2002, as a young rookie, he and the New Jersey Nets faced off against the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals. But even though they had a strong showing in the Eastern Conference, the Nets were swept by the Lakers. But the Nets made their way back to the Finals the following year and faced the San Antonio Spurs. The Nets put up a fight but lost to the Spurs in six games.
After many years and playing for many teams, Jefferson made his way to the Cavaliers in 2015-16, where he helped them win a championship.
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Though the Cavaliers are currently down 3-0 this post-season, the Finals are not over yet. It will be a very, very tough task (nearly impossible), but the Cavs still have a chance at getting that title. So there is a slim possibility Jefferson’s season won’t be “unsuccessful.”