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I would never regret the 2007 trade that brought Kevin Garnett and banner number 18 to the Boston Celtics, but it is sad to see what it has done to the career of young Al Jefferson, who was sent in return to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Jefferson’s story begins the summer after his sophomore season in 2006. Ankle problems the previous year limited him to playing in just 59 games, and averages of 7.9 points and 5.1 rebounds. Given the expectations that had been placed upon him, these numbers were seen as an unequivocal disappointment.
Being his own harshest critic, Jefferson agreed wholeheartedly with the Celtics organiziation and the fanbase and took it upon himself to hire a personal chef and lose over 30 pounds to prepare for the following season. In the 2006-2007 campaign, a slimmed down “Big Al” took over the starting gig at center due to a rash of injuries to the Celtics’ already thin front line and promptly took hold. For a woeful Celtics squad that, without Paul Pierce, finished with the league’s second worst record, Jefferson was a “One-Man Wolf Pack.” And just when he thought he was going to add Pierce, Ray Allen and an improved Rajon Rondo to his wolf pack, he was traded to the Timberwolves—arguably the worst team in the Western Conference.
Now defunct Timberwolves GM Kevin Mchale, whose managerial ineptitude was surpassed only by the trainwreck that is Isiah Thomas, instantly became the Minnesota media’s favorite whipping boy. It still boggles the minds of many how Mchale could give away a certified top 25 all-time player for a promising young forward and table scraps. Was he trying to help out his old team? (Thank you.) Was he afraid that Garnett was near the end of his run? Or did he see a little bit of himself in the soft hands and near perfect footwork of Al Jefferson?
Either way, since landing in Minnesota, Jefferson has been the consummate professional. He has gone about his business, despite a bumbling front office, and has averaged over 20 points and 10 rebounds in both his seasons with the Wolves. In 2007 Jefferson could have waited to sign a max contract at the end of the year but instead signed an extension with Minnesota for five years and $65 million because he, “didn’t think [he] was worth max money this year.” That sort of humbleness is something you don’t hear every day in a league that is defined by avarice and ostentation.
Al Jefferson isn’t an every day type of player, and he isn’t an every day type of man.
After crumpling to the ground amidst the most prolific stretch of his young career with a torn ACL last season, Jefferson has been rehabbing all offseason just to get back for the coming year. Big Al has once again shed over 30 pounds—weight he had been advised to put on by the previous coaching staff—and is getting ready to run in new Timberwolves Coach Kurt Rambis’ triangle offense. His rehab has taken its toll, and the new offense takes him away from the basket and outside his comfort zone, but Big Al shoulders all of the burden.
Following a tough preseason performance in which Jefferson was ignored in the high post by his shot hungry teammates — limiting him to just 3 points — he had this to say: “Tonight makes me realize why I love preseason so much; You’ve got to get all those bad things out. If I’ve got to go through a slump, better now than later.’’
If there is a better role model in the league today, I don’t know who it is. That game happened to be the last preseason game for the “One Man Wolf Pack,” as he was shut down shortly after with flu-like symptoms. Given his luck, it will probably be of the swine variety.
They say a lone wolf is a dangerous wolf, but unfortunately in the NBA, wolves travel in packs. Because of the Garnett trade, of which Jefferson was the centerpiece, the Celtics have their pack for at least the next year or two. Anybody who enjoyed banner 18 should be a fan of Al Jefferson as much as they are of the Boston Celtics and hope that karma-willing, Big Al will have some wolves to run with soon.
Bangor Daily News