Okay, okay, I know what you’re thinking: Al Jefferson made an All-NBA team, isn’t that basically the same, if not more recognition than being an All-Star? Yeah, it is, but I needed an excuse to do a career retrospective about Big Al and that title sounded good. So here it is, a look back at Al Jefferson’s career, and specifically his magical 2013-2014 season in all its glory. 

Big Al, Big Classic, Al Jefferson, was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the 15th overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft. Originally committed to play at the University of Arkansas, the highly touted Jefferson reneged on his decision, instead deciding to declare for the draft out of high school, thus becoming one of the last players to be drafted directly from high school before the NBA changed eligibility rules in 2005.

Jefferson operated mainly as a reserve in his first two seasons, 2004-2005 and 2005-2006, for the Celtics who were led by future Hall of Famer Paul Pierce. His progress was further hindered by a series of ankle injuries and a torn meniscus which limited him to 59 games in ‘06. 

After a slow start to the following season, Jefferson became one of the team’s key weapons on the now lottery-bound 2006-2007 Celtics, with Pierce playing just 47 games. Roaring into life around the Christmas period, Jefferson put the league on notice in ‘07, particularly in March 2007, where he averaged 19.7 points and 11.2 rebounds on 55.1% from the field, including a 32 point, 18 rebound demolition job of Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and the New Jersey Nets, and a 20 point, 12 rebound showout in a close victory against that year’s champions, the San Antonio Spurs.

In the off-season, the Celtics, in an effort to build around Pierce who was now entering his 30’s, included Jefferson as the headliner of a package for superstar Kevin Garnett. As most everyone knows, this duo, along with Ray Allen, eventually led the Celtics to the 2008 NBA championship. Years after retiring, despite acknowledging his disappointment at being traded, Big Al explained that he understood the Celtics’ decision during a fantastic interview on Out the Mud. 

Now on the Minnesota Timberwolves, Jefferson was firmly the #1 option, free to put up impressive numbers on some truly terrible teams that included highly-esteemed Wolves such as Marko Jaric and Rashad McCants, before Kevin Love was acquired in 2008 in one of the only good moves the Wolves made in years before and after the trade. Following a 2007-2008 season where Jefferson averaged 21 points and 11.1 rebounds per game and impressively played all 82 games, he was on track to have his best season statistically, averaging 23 points per game before tearing his ACL in New Orleans in February. All-Star recognition continued to avoid Jefferson, though he wasn’t helped by his team winning 46 games across his first two seasons in Minnesota. 

After spending another year on the hapless Timberwolves, Jefferson was traded once again, this time to the Utah Jazz. Given the package the Wolves ultimately received in return, you could put this one firmly in the loss column they were all too familiar with in the David Kahn era. Contrary to Deron Williams’ claim, he did not make Jefferson an All-Star before skipping town. On the bright side, now on some decent, if unremarkable Utah teams, alongside actual starting calibre players such as the aforementioned Williams (for half a season), Paul Millsap, Andrei Kirilenko and a young Gordon Hayward, Jefferson was finally able to return to the Play-Offs in 2012 for the first time since his rookie year. Unfortunately, the Jazz were hopelessly outmatched against the San Antonio Spurs, losing 4-0 in a straight sweep, despite Big Al’s best efforts in game 4, where he posted 26 points and 10 rebounds on 13-for-19 shooting. 

After narrowly missing the Play-Offs in 2013, Jefferson left the Jazz in Free Agency. He signed with the then-Charlotte Bobcats, becoming the biggest signing in team history, and in my opinion (however little that matters), the centerpiece of one of the more interesting teams of the 2010s. Just a year earlier, in the spring of 2012, the Bobcats were wrapping up the worst season in NBA history, winning just 7 games in the lockout-shortned, 66-game 2011-2012 season. After coaching as an NBA assistant for over a decade, Steve Clifford was finally given his bow as a leading man, and the players at his disposal included:

• Kemba Walker: Drafted in 2011 after a stellar college career, the compact but skillful 23-year old was able to put aside what was undoubtedly a traumatising debut campaign in 2011-2012 to become the club’s starting point guard in year two
• Gerald Henderson: Another alumni of the ill-fated 2012 squad, team owner Michael Jordan had taken him under his wing. Jordan he was not, but he would be called upon to provide some much-needed scoring on this underdog outfit
• Michael Kidd-Gilchrist: The “consolation” prize the Bobcats picked up after missing out on Anthony Davis in the 2012 Draft, Charlotte was hoping the already defensively-solid forward could take a leap forward offensively after his maiden campaign
• Josh McRoberts: One of the more unique players in the league at the time (and perhaps worthy of a deep dive himself), the versatile 6”10 forward had already played for four teams before arriving in Charlotte in February 2013. He quickly made an impression on management, who signed him to a contract extension in the summer.
• Al Jefferson: Now 28-years old, the big man in the middle was tasked with being the focal point of a team desparate for an inside presence. He had one heck of a job on his hands

Jefferson’s desire to make an impact on his new squad was hampered in the early part of the 2013-2014 season by an ankle injury, but he found momentum as the calendar turned to 2014. A 35 point performance at Time Warner Cable Arena against the New York Knicks kicked off a 10-game run which saw Jefferson average 28.9 points, 12.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists on an incredible 56.8% from the field, the Bobcats winning 6 of those games. 

Knicks-performance aside, highlights of this spell included blasting the Magic in Orlando with 30 points on 13-for-17 shooting, demonstrating his all-round game against the play-off-bound Toronto Raptors with 22 points, 19 rebounds and 7 assists, 35 points on the road in a win against Denver, and tying a career high of 40 points against the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center.

Unfortunately for Jefferson, he once again missed the All-Star game, the Bobcats 19-25 record and Jefferson’s numbers of 18.4 points and 10.4 rebounds (at the time of the squad announcement) deemed insufficient. 

Despite Big Al dropping a couple of duds in February, notably 10 points on 15 shots against the Suns in Phoenix and 6 points in a Walker-masterclass in a tight 92-89 win against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Bobcats kept their heads above water in the race for the Play-Offs in the Eastern Conference. Jefferson more than made up for his shortcomings against Phoenix and Memphis with several impressive games throughout the month, including 30 points in both a win in Oakland against the Golden State Warriors and in a victory against the Mavericks in Dallas. These performances were followed by a mega 3-game run, where Jefferson scored 32 and 29 in back-to-back games against the Detroit Pistons, and 33 against the New Orelans Pelicans. 

The Bobcats ramped up in March and April, finally breaking the .500 mark with an overtime victory against the Cavaliers in Cleveland with five games remaining, clinching a Play-Off spot in the process. In the final two months of the regular season, Jefferson played some of the best basketball of his career, leading Charlotte to 16 wins in their final 24 games, averaging a jaw-dropping 24.6 points and 11.8 rebounds on 54.7% shooting from the field. Personal highlights in this stretch included a simply ridiculous 38 point, 19 rebound performance on 18-for-24 shooting in a loss to defending champions Miami, 34 points to down the Eastern Conference-leading Indiana Pacers at home, as well as 26, and 35 point performances against some tough Eastern Conference Play-off rivals (Washington and Brooklyn). Awesome displays such as these led to the big man being recognised as Eastern Conference Player of the Month in both March and April.

A 7th place finish in the Eastern Conference matched the Bobcats against the Finals-bound Miami Heat. Unfortunately for Big Al, Charlotte, and the rest of Mankind, a foot injury suffered in game 1 severely limited Jefferson, so much so that he missed the sweep-closing-game 4. In truth, as impressive as the Bobcats had been in 2014, they were severely outmatched, even with Al Jefferson at his absolute peak. There was, however, some good news in June, with Jefferson being given some well-deserved recognition in the form of a nomination to the All-NBA Third Team. Club-owner Michael Jordan even took out a full page advertisement in the Charlotte Observer to thank Jefferson.

After re-branding themselves back to the much-loved Hornets moniker in the off-season, the 2014-2015 club missed the Play-Offs, before bouncing back in 2016 with their final postseason berth to date, once again being defeated by Miami. By this point, however, Jefferson, suffering from a combination of injuries and a league-wide shift in philsophy, was cast in a supporting role. The man-mountain played a further two seasons in Indiana, before heading to China and finally, calling it quits in 2018. 

When it was all said and done, Jefferson finished with career averages of 15.7 points and 8.4 rebounds, playing in four Play-off series across his time in Boston, Utah and Charlotte, but never making it past the first round. It could be said that Jefferson was the last of a dying breed, a throwback to another time. His fantastic play in 2014 kept the smouldering ashes of a laughing stock-franchise flickering. Although never recognised as one of the league’s best players outside of that one season, his butter-smooth post-play, hook shots, and the occasional power move ensure he will live on in infamy with the most diehard of NBA 2000s enthusiasts.