Al
Jefferson (born January 4, 1985 in Monticello,
Mississippi
) is an American
professional
basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the
NBA.
High school career
Jefferson
attended Prentiss High School
in Prentiss,
Mississippi
from 2000–2004. In his senior year for the
Bulldogs he averaged 42.6 points, 18 rebounds, and 7 blocks per
game.
He
had earned a scholarship to attend the University of
Arkansas
to play with the Arkansas Razorbacks but
opted out to enter the 2004 NBA
Draft.
Pro career
Al Jefferson was drafted with the 15th pick by the
Boston Celtics in the
2004 NBA Draft, becoming the first high
school player to be drafted by the Celtics (
Kendrick Perkins was drafted by the
Grizzlies, then traded to Boston
on draft day in the
2003 NBA Draft).
He played primarily as a power forward and averaged 6.7 points and
4.4 rebounds in 14.8 minutes per game during his rookie
season.Jefferson's 2005–2006 season was widely considered a
disappointment, mostly due to a series of ankle injuries and a torn
meniscus in his right knee which limited him to playing in 59
games.He averaged 7.9 points and 5.1 rebounds in 18.0 minutes per
game during his sophomore season.
In the off-season prior to the 2006–2007 season, Jefferson hired a
personal chef and lost about 30 pounds.After experiencing lingering
pain after participating in the
Las Vegas Summer League, a CAT scan
revealed bone spurs.On August 2, 2006, he underwent ankle surgery
to remove these bone spurs.On November 8, 2006 prior to the fourth
game of the season, Al Jefferson had appendectomy surgeryat New
England Baptist Hospital. The surgery was performed by Dr. Steven
Camer and Dr. Farhat Homsy and assisted by Celtics Team Physician
Dr. Brian McKeon.He missed seven games and returned to the lineup
on November 23, 2006.
2006–07
While already playing increased minutes (9.3 points and 7.0
rebounds in 22.0 minutes per game over nine games as a reserve),
his role expanded due to an injury to starting center
Kendrick Perkins. With backup centers
Michael Olowokandi and
Theo Ratliff already on the injured list,
Celtics' coach
Doc Rivers started Al
Jefferson at center on December 6, 2006 against the
Memphis Grizzlies.
Over the next seven games, Jefferson averaged 16.3 points and 11.1
rebounds in 33.7 minutes per game. In what some considered a
breakout performance against the
New
Jersey Nets on December 9, 2006, he scored a career-high 29
points and grabbed 14 rebounds which tied a career-high (set on May
5, 2005 in a playoff game against the
Indiana Pacers). It was the second time he
had scored more than 20 points in a game. The previous occasion was
on December 10, 2005 against the
Dallas
Mavericks where he scored 21 points. His third and fourth
20-point game came six and seven days after the second, on December
15 and December 16, 2006, when he scored 28 against the
Denver Nuggets and 22 against the
Charlotte Bobcats. These efforts
punctuated a five-game win streak by the
Boston Celtics.
On March 3,
2007, Jefferson scored a
career-high 32 points to go along with 18 rebounds against the
New Jersey Nets, against whom he had
previously set his career high in points against earlier in the
season. On March 5, Jefferson was named the NBA's Eastern
Conference Player of the Week for the week starting February 26
through March 4.
2007–08
On
July 31, 2007 it was made official that
Jefferson was to be traded along with
Gerald Green,
Ryan
Gomes,
Theo Ratliff,
Sebastian Telfair, and draft picks, to the
Minnesota Timberwolves for
Kevin Garnett.
After landing in Minnesota, Jefferson quickly signed a large
contract extension before the season. At $65 million over five
years, it was satisfactory but he could have gotten a max deal.
Instead he chose not to pursue one, due to "having not really
proved myself".
In his first season with the Timberwolves, Jefferson immediately
became the team's scoring leader. Playing in all 82 games, he
ranked 20th in the NBA in points per game (11th in total points),
averaging 21.0 points per game while shooting .500 from the field.
Jefferson also defined himself as one of the premier big men in the
NBA by being only one of four players to average 20 points and 10
rebounds (the others being
Dwight
Howard,
Carlos Boozer, and
Antawn Jamison). Jefferson ranked 5th
in the NBA in rebounding, averaging 11.1 (4th in total rebounds)
and 2nd in offensive rebounds per game (3.8), only behind Tyson
Chandler (4.1). Jefferson is ranked 12th in the NBA efficiency and
is 3rd in the NBA in double-doubles.
In January 2008 Jefferson won Western Conference Player of the Week
honors after averaging 33.3 points and 15.3 rebounds and leading
the Timberwolves to a 3–1 record from January 21 to 27.
Jefferson posted his career-high of 40 points against the
New Jersey Nets on January 27, 2008 and
repeated such a performance against the
Charlotte Bobcats on
April 8, 2008.
2008–09
Jefferson was having a career best year, averaging 23.1 points,
11.0 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game in the first 50 games of the
season, until suffering a serious right knee injury after landing
awkwardly on one leg in a game at New Orleans. Jefferson claimed
that he felt a pop in his knee and the injury resulted in a
complete tear to the ACL which required reconstructive surgery that
ended his season. At the time the Wolves were 17–33 and showing
signs of improvement, but with Jefferson out, they went 7-25 over
their remaining games, and were a lottery team once again.
Personal
Jefferson is affectionately known by fans as "Big Al" and he has
gone to the point where he signs all of his autographs with just
his nickname and his number (25), rather than his full name.
NBA career statistics
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