As time ran out at The Oracle Sunday night, history was everywhere. LeBron James fulfilled his promise to the "The Land," bringing his hometown its first NBA championship and its first pro sports championship in 52 years. The defending champs had won 73 games but couldn't win a title, forever settling the argument of who was the greatest NBA team of all-time. It wasn't Golden State.
And there was Richard Jefferson, who turns 36 years old Tuesday, on the court with a sobbing King. It was, he said post-game, his final professional game, the end of a 15-year career that started on Draft Night in 2001 when Rod Thorn engineered a trade that sent the rights to Eddie Griffin to Houston for RJ, Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong.