Richard Jefferson Says LeBron James Will 'Destroy as Many People as Possible' Next Season

LeBron James missed the playoffs for the first time in over a decade last season. While this provided for interesting off-season content, James has warned critics and trolls that "ether coming soon." Now his former teammate, Richard Jefferson, has decided to add context to this warning. 

During an appearance on ESPN's Get Up, Jefferson gave his predictions for next year.

"LeBron James will be the best player in basketball again," Jefferson said. "Now, will he be the LeBron James from ’08, chasing down blocks–no. But he is going to do so many different things. And with Kyle Kuzma and Anthony Davis on his team, he’s going to be able to be that dominant guy again."

Jefferson then went on to claim that the "disrespect" James is receiving from the media will only fuel him to go on a revenge tour.

"I think he understands the disrespect. He’s felt it over the course of his career at different levels. Now, it’s you’re old, you had your first injury. Now you’re not that guy anymore," Jefferson continued. "But I think really and truly, he’s more focused on proving to people that basketball is the most important thing to him. And the only way to do that is to go and destroy as many people as possible."

Jefferson was on the Cavs when LeBron brought the franchise its first championship after mounting a historic 3-1 comeback over the Golden State Warriors. And for the first time in nearly 15 years, James has had extra time to rehab his body. This, along with the extra motivation from critics, could set the stage for LeBron to have another terrific season.