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Channing Frye turned 33 on Tuesday and the Cavaliers provided a birthday gift with a 115-84 win over Toronto in Game One of the Eastern Conference finals. This is the second time Frye has advanced to a conference finals. The first was with the Suns in 2010 when they lost to the Lakers in six games in the Western Conference finals.
Channing Frye rises and fires on @ESPNNBA! #NBAVine https://t.co/wTwU4CqrKt
— NBA (@NBA) May 18, 2016
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No doubt Frye is having the time of his NBA life, in his 10th season at that level.
Channing Frye creepin hard https://t.co/Jt5VgpxsBx
— Bottlegate (@Bottlegate) May 18, 2016
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With three players remaining in the playoffs — Andre Iguodala, Frye and Richard Jefferson — Arizona has plenty to pound its chest about.
Matched with four coaches still at work — Golden State head coach Steve Kerr and assistants Luke Walton and Bruce Fraser and Cleveland assistant Bret Brielmaier — the Wildcats are front and center in the conference finals stage.
The Pac-12 is also well represented, leading all Power 5 conferences with 14 players in NBA’s version of the Final Four. The ACC is next with 11 followed by the SEC (seven), Big 12 (six) and Big Ten (only two).
SCHOOLS WITH MOST PLAYERS IN NBA’S FINAL FOUR VERSION
UCLA 4
Arizona 3
Duke 3
Kansas 3
Texas 3
Georgia Tech 2
Kentucky 2
North Carolina 2
Utah 2
Villanova 2
21 tied with 1
SCHOOLS WITH MOST COACHING PERSONNEL IN NBA’S FINAL FOUR VERSION
Arizona 4
Kentucky 2
18 tied with 1
POWER 5 CONFERENCES WITH MOST PLAYERS IN NBA’S FINAL FOUR VERSION
Pac-12 14
ACC 11
SEC 7
Big 12 6
Big Ten 2
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Jefferson, in his 15th season in the NBA, is in the conference finals for the first time since going to the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003 with the New Jersey Nets. Remember when Jefferson was one of the last players off Golden State’s bench under Mark Jackson in 2012 and 2013?
"This is as good as I've felt all year." – Richard Jefferson on being #ALLin216
READ: https://t.co/EDGnpmXNLY pic.twitter.com/mCV361xvhr
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) May 17, 2016
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This tweet makes sense with best friend Walton as the Lakers’ head coach next season. If Jefferson does not play next year (he most likely will not retire), count on him to be part of Walton’s staff. That is bound to happen down the line if Walton is still the head coach.
Richard Jefferson is a FA after this year, any chance he doesn't end up on the Lakers next season?
— Brian Snow (@BSnowScout) May 18, 2016
And he has lived to tell about it …
Richard Jefferson played against actual raptors early in his career…
— Matt Deitsch (@MattxRed) May 18, 2016
You have to like the jokes of Jefferson being old, but he is not Thomas Jefferson …
Richard Jefferson signed the declaration of independence and still retained enough athleticism 300 years later to blow by DeRozan.
— Ty Rupee $ingh (@IamHarshDave) May 18, 2016
Try laughing at this … Jefferson has all the way to the bank.
Richard Jefferson has made approximately $108M on the court in his #NBA career.
— Robert Raiola, CPA (@SportsTaxMan) May 18, 2016
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More than the two-time defending MVP?
Warriors players making more money than Steph Curry this season:
1. Klay Thompson
2. Draymond Green
3. Andrew Bogut
4. Andre Iguodala— Alicia Jessop (@RulingSports) May 17, 2016
Kerr makes sense but then again he usually does …
Steve Kerr said he thinks the NBA releasing officiating corrections so quickly throws officials under the bus: pic.twitter.com/ynxDgHEZaQ
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) May 17, 2016
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Make that Frye and Jefferson having the time of their lives …
Richard Jefferson has the greatest snapchat of all time https://t.co/f6wvYsbupf
— Sports Nation Ohio (@SN_Ohio) May 13, 2016
ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
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