Video: Tim Duncan with a warm greeting for Richard Jefferson

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Tim Duncan does not take too kindly to someone being in the way of his traction pad, giving Richard Jefferson the business in a way many Spurs fans would like to.

I don’t know whether or not Tim Duncan meant anything malicious by that shove, I assume that it was a playful little moment between two former teammates. Don’t let Duncan’s lack of reaction fool you, he rarely reacts to anything outside of a foul call.

I’m sure many a Spurs fan took delight in watching the above video, something I can’t quite figure out. Sure, Jefferson’s tenure in San Antonio was a disappointment. At the same time, he sacrificed for the team while he was in silver and black and completely changed his game — and worked hard at doing so — in order to fit in better as a Spur.

I absolutely understand Spurs fans not looking back fondly at Jefferson’s time in San Antonio, but booing him mercilessly every time he checks into the game for the Warriors is a bit excessive and unbecoming.

(Hat tip to Jason Gallagher of ESPN TrueHoop Network site BallerBall.)

  • pdx fan

    Can you see Manu shoves him too, right before Tim. I saw Tim do it again later on the court during a time out too. From what I know they are good friends. Clearly, they are all goofing.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002461403848 Christopher James

    He threw that plastic on Manu and Tim retaliated, backing up Manu, by shoving Richard Jefferson. It was pretty apparent that it wasn’t a playful shove. Good on Tim, Jefferson is a wacko.

  • bexarid

    Looked like they were huddling and were trying to get him back over with his own guys. Manu shoves them, then Tim. It’s totally playful, but looks more like they were trying to huddle up on the next play.

  • Andrew G

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jordan-Lee-Zhen-Hau/611018781 Jordan Lee Zhen Hau

    nv understand the hate for Rj..

  • idahospur

    I think RJ might have been a bit upset by the way fans were booing. Just didn’t seem in his face that he appreciated his time back.
    I heard about the booing after the fact and was wondering what the situation was that warranted behavior. Living in Idaho I have never been to a Spurs game so I didn’t want to step on the “normal” behavior of fans. If that’s how things are done then I didn’t want to say anything.
    I hope that the next time RJ finds himself in SA, that he gets better treatment. It would be nice after the series to hear a former teammate (Duncan, Parker, Ginobili) say something about RJ and respecting him as a player and a friend.
    Lets take Game 6!

  • Robert

    I think Jefferson just wanted to feel he was still part of the Spurs organization. That was Duncan’s way of saying, “No thanks!”

  • Ragon

    I love how Corey Joseph meekly tried to wipe off his shoes in the little space that Jefferson left instead of shoving him off. It was adorable. He needed big brother Manu to get Jefferson off their mat.

  • td4life

    I have been surprised by the boos that RJ gets, surprised that so many others dislike him also. I started calling him “my least favorite Spur of all time” over three years ago, before he re-signed with the Spurs. I guess it isn’t lost on very many of my fellow fans that he ROBBED us… I completely disagree with Andrew that he sacrificed for us any significant way. The opposite is true, he has no heart and is just in it for the paycheck. He’s the type of guy Lionel Hollins has said doesn’t care if he ever gets off the bench. Milwaukee figured that out before us, and now it’s the Warriors’ problem,

    The guy is not a competitor.

  • TheFG21

    Obviously that was playing. Tim was walking already to the court then all of the sudden he changed his course and joined the other guys to gang beat RJ. If it wasnt playing RF would have said something back to them.

    And like pdx fan said, later on TD did the same thing right before the game was resumed after a time-out.

  • http://twitter.com/JeffreyYoon Jeffrey Yoon

    Jefferson was shoved bc he was trying to listen to the spurs’ game plan.

  • Len

    It’s just gamesmanship. Grown men competing against each other when the stakes are very high.

  • http://www.facebook.com/bryan.lounsberry Bryan Lounsberry

    I really don’t get the fans’ booing of Richard. It’s not very sportsmanlike or very Spurs-like. What are we, Mavs fans?

  • The Big Equanimity

    Did you see Bret Brown tell Manu to knock him off. Tim must have heard and turned around to help. They must have discussed together how to treat RJ during competition, or he might have done something to disappoint them.

  • The Big Equanimity

    I was thinking maybe they were sticking up for someone, but Jeffrey Yoon has a good point: looks like RJ was spying. The fan stuff is irrelevant.

  • Andrew G

    Playing like RJ did for three seasons while getting 10 million a year isn’t very Spurs-like either.

    Granted, I’d like to forget those seasons as much as the next guy (early playoff exits and all), but I’ll never forget what helped contribute to those collapses: RJ suckin some big D.

  • Spurs Fan in VA

    Can’t argue with your statement. We Spurs fans should be a bit more gracious.

  • Spurs Fan in VA

    So, I just reviewed the video again after reading all the posts below. It looks like RJ was pushing the limits. He stays on the mat and doesn’t move when CJ tries to wipe his shoes. Manu calls him for it and TD just adds the finishing touch. RJ the one who’s guilty of a little gamesmanship. The Spurs are calling him for it. I still stand by my first statement. The fans should be booing a former Spurs that just didn’t fit the system. The players can take care of the gamesmanship business, obviously.

  • John

    Why does it look like Manu has a plastic bag on his upper arm? At first RJ has this plastic bag-like object, then it’s on Manu’s arm.

  • sr. beaverotti

    You’re right. But it’s just too much fun.

  • DorieStreet

    I think the Spurs fans remember Jefferson’s career before he signed with San Antonio.
    In his 2nd year he was starting for the New Jersey Nets, who fell to the Spurs in the ’03 Finals-(and that monster dunk he put on Kevin Willis in game 4 (5?). RJ averaged nearly 20 points per game for 6 seasons with the Nets and one with the Milwaukee Bucks. We saw him put up 22 ppg a couple of seasons, and averaged 6 and 7 rebounds in four years straight.
    For whatever reason—(Spurs’ system, square peg-round hole, or maybe some indifference on his part)- that Richard Jefferson never showed up in San Antonio.

  • Graham

    Part of me thinks that was the reason for the shoving.

  • Graham

    It’s the used up layer of the traction pad. He probably peeled the old one off before using it.

  • Andrew G

    Wouldn’t do him any good, he never understood it in the first place.

  • DD

    What does lower-case “nv” mean…And why are there two periods at the end of your sentence…And why did you spell RJ with a capital “R’ and lower-case “j”?

  • http://www.nba.com/spurs/?tmd=1 TheRealDirtyP1

    ^^^^^^^^
    I like what you said, but I haven’t been surprised by the boos. SA is a blue collar town, and there are a lot of guys on this roster that don’t have half of RJ’s talent that give you 3x more than he does. It’s sad really, I don’t know what the guy’s deal is but he’ll always be, to me, one of the most underachieving players I’ve ever seen on the Spurs. Who else would you add to that list?

  • http://www.nba.com/spurs/?tmd=1 TheRealDirtyP1

    When Ezeli was in the starting lineup, the salaries of Ezeli, Curry, Thompson, and Barnes add up to between 8-9mil(Curry will get a big bump next year)…. that’s pretty crazy. Bogut is making 12mil. Funny money isn’t it?

  • NYC

    What’s funny is that RJ is making something like 8-9 mill sitting on the bench. Not funny-haha, more like funny-phew,-we-dodged-a-bullet. (Although I imagine there’s a Warriors fan somewhere posting the exact same thing about us with Stephen Jackson.)

  • NYC

    Dennis Rodman.

  • td4life

    RJ gets paid next year too. While (for better or worse) RC saved money cutting Jackson since he’s not getting checks during the playoffs.

  • Raymond

    why do you have three periods in your sentences?

  • Raymond

    Get your facts right. Rodman didn’t underachieve! He tops the rebounding category for 93 and 95 in a Spurs uniform. He merely could not get along with Robinson.