Richard Jefferson is putting these young bloods in their place.
Earlier this week, Bradley Beal, whose Washington Wizards dropped their Round 2 playoff series against the Boston Celtics in seven games, did some chirping at Jefferson’s Cleveland Cavaliers, who are now playing the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.
“Cleveland didn’t want to see us,” Beal said to CSN Mid-Atlantic’s Chris Miller. “I always said that. I felt like that’s the reason they didn’t play us in the second round. They didn’t want to see us in the second round. If they were going to go down, they were going to go down in the conference finals. They didn’t want to go down in the second round.”
But on Friday, it was Jefferson’s turn to respond.
“It seems like the teams that are at home now want to start talking,” said the veteran forward, according to James Herbert of CBS Sports. “Dion Waiters was saying that nobody wanted to see the Miami Heat … then Bradley Beal says nobody wants to [play the Wizards]. Well, if no one does, then show up. If you get there, then prove it.
“Bradley’s a great young player, he’s going to have a great career in front of him, but don’t talk about teams that didn’t want to see you when you’re out of the playoffs,” Jefferson continued. “It makes absolutely no sense. A team that has now won 10 in a row in the playoffs, the defending champions, didn’t want to see you, but you didn’t get out of the second round? It makes headlines, but does it make sense? How does it make you come across when people want to talk about basketball IQ?”
The Wizards were 1-2 against the Cavs this season but likely would have matched up much better against them than the Celtics, who have been utterly creamed in the first two games of the conference finals. Still, Beal, who has been known to sprinkle salt on occasion, is watching the playoffs from his couch right now instead, so he doesn’t exactly have much of a leg to stand on.
Image via FOX Sports Ohio on YouTube
