Last Friday night, New Jersey Nets rookie forward Richard Jefferson scored a career-best 22 points, leading the Nets to a huge victory over their fiercest rivals, the Knicks.
The next day, Jefferson was scoring points in a huge way with the youngsters of North Bergen, signing autographs and making new friends.
The reason for Jefferson’s appearance in North Bergen was the grand opening of the new Sprint/PCS mobile telecommunications store in the Columbia Park shopping center. The store opened to rave reviews Saturday morning, which included the appearance of Jefferson and a live radio broadcast from Hot 97-FM.
Jefferson, who has been a major surprise in his first season in the National Basketball Association, playing for the NBA’s biggest surprise this year, loves getting the chance to mingle with the fans.
“It’s such a good thing any time you get a chance to be with the public and the fans, especially the young fans,” said Jefferson, a former University of Arizona product who was drafted by the Houston Rockets in the first round of the NBA Draft last June, only to be traded to the Nets soon after for the rights to former Seton Hall standout Eddie Griffin. “I think going out to meet the fans can only help our fan base and get more people interested in us.”
Winning also helps. The Nets, who won just 26 games all of last season, are currently enjoying the best season in the team’s NBA history, having won 38 games at press time. They have a comfortable lead in first place in both the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference and are steamrolling toward gaining the first seed in the upcoming NBA playoffs.
The 21-year-old Jefferson has been a big reason for the team’s success. As the first forward coming off the bench, Jefferson is averaging nearly 10 points per game, which ranks third among all NBA rookies. He has been named the NBA Rookie of the Month for January and will be considered for Rookie of the Year honors.
Needless to say, it’s been a great run for Jefferson.
“After I left the University of Arizona [after his junior year], I didn’t know what life in the NBA was going to be like,” Jefferson said. “But now, I’m on a first place team where I’m able to contribute and be a factor. I could never have imagined that my first year would be like this.”
Mickey Gallagher, the store manager of the Sprint PCS location, said, “We were very fortunate to have someone like Richard come to help us open the store. People have been calling the store all week, asking when he was going to be here. Because the Nets are doing so well and he’s doing so well, the timing has been perfect. He’s been a great find for us.”
Dave Pacifico is the Sprint PCS area sales manager. He believes that the new location, the seventh such store to open in New Jersey, will be a great one for the company.
Jefferson was equally excited to be among the fans of the first place Nets. He said that he hopes to call New Jersey his home for quite some time.
“Like anything new, it took a while to get used to,” Jefferson said. “But now, I love the area. I really enjoy the people and the area in New Jersey, so hopefully, I’ll get to stay here a while.”
Jefferson also applauded the opportunity to meet and greet the fans.
“Whenever the team is looking for people to do these events, I always want to,” Jefferson said. “It gives the fans a chance to get to see us and know us better. That’s always good.”