Richard Jefferson Blasts Damon Jones: ‘That’s Why He Got Soup Thrown on Him’

Former Cleveland Cavaliers forward Richard Jefferson has never been shy about offering his opinion on various forms of media.

On Wednesday morning, he delivered a stinging rebuke on social media to an on-air jab from former Cavs player and assistant coach Damon Jones.

Jefferson and Jones were appearing on ESPN’s morning sports talk show “Get Up!” with Jefferson giving background on the abrupt way in which he was traded in 2008.

That deal was made by the New Jersey Nets, who Jefferson had played for in the first seven seasons of a 17-year NBA career.

After Jefferson indicated his aggravation at the lack of sensitivity by the Nets, Jones then said to the show’s host Mike Greenberg:

“And Greeny, guess what? The Nets got better.”

Jefferson remained quiet, though technically, Jones was right. The Nets improved by seven games to finish 34-48 during the 2008-09 season. However, as Jefferson noted shortly afterward, the Nets collapsed the following season to finish with a 17-65 record.

Jefferson’s reference to soup on Twitter was to remind followers of the infamous moment during the 2017-18 season when J.R. Smith threw a bowl of soup at Jones at the Cavs’ practice facility.

That action by Smith was in response to a comment from Jones, which resulted in Smith being suspended for one game by the team.

At the time of the suspension, which was given for what the team described as “detrimental conduct,” no details were offered. That changed a day later, when news of the embarrassing incident came out.

Jones’ penchant for making such comments might be seen as one reason why he played for 10 different NBA teams during his 11-year career. In his career, he was primarily known for his 3-point shooting ability and described himself in a 2005 interview as “the best shooter in the world.”

Jefferson has since mended fences with the Nets. In fact, this past season Jefferson served as a game and studio analyst for Nets games on the YES Network.

In the case of Jones, he was fired by the Cavs at the same time that former Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue was let go in October 2018.