Former NBA big man Al Jefferson has officially announced his retirement from basketball, according to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. The 34-year-old center played 14 seasons in the NBA with five different teams. Jefferson recently endured a very brief stint with the Chinese Basketball Association before calling it quits.
“I’m done. I’m retired. I’m good, man,” tells the Boston Globe. “The NBA’s been great to me. I got 14 years out of this game and when I left China, I just put in my head that I’m done. I’m going to retire and give it up and let the young boys have it.”
In the article, Jefferson says he received NBA offers from playoff contenders after he left the Chinese League. But instead of attending practices and meetings, “Big Al” opted to stay away and enjoy the holidays. Washburn notes that Jefferson has not spent spent Thanksgiving, Christmas, and his birthday since he was in high school. But family was not the only reason he decided not to return back to The Association.
“That’s the thing now — I put myself in a position a long time ago to just say if I want to sit and watch TV all day every day, I can,” he said. “I’m relaxing, just enjoying life. Being around my family, doing things. It was great to be at home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and my birthday and New Year’s. I’m just embracing now. I did sign up for the Big3, that will give me a reason to stay in shape and still have love for the game. I’m just going to relax, travel, and watch a lot of NBA games.
Jefferson opted out of his contract with Indiana before this season, after failing to third-string center. But falling out of favor with the Pacers and then China was not the only reason for deciding to hang ’em up.
“It was a mix of a lot of things, actually,” Jefferson continued to The Globe. “I went to China because I wasn’t ready to just be the veteran guy. I wanted to play. That’s the reason I went. The game done changed. Ain’t nobody posting up. And so I just felt like I wanted to play and it didn’t work out [in Indiana], so that was my time to give it up. When I first got in the league I wanted to do about 14, 15, 16 years, and I got at 14 and it was a blast to be around here that long. But it was time to walk away.”
Al Jefferson finishes his career with averages of 15.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game. He was named to the All-Rookie team for the 2004-2005 season and the All-NBA team for the 2013-2014 season. Enjoy retirement, “Big Classic” (yes, that is actually his nickname according to Basketball Reference).
