In the course of revamping the roster, the Brooklyn Nets had to part ways with a few pieces from the 2018-19 team over the summer. Of course, D’Angelo Russell was most notable among the players who found a new place to play.
Another who had to find a new team was Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. Now in his fifth year in the league, Hollis-Jefferson was traded to Brooklyn the same night he was selected No. 23 overall in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers.
In his four seasons with the Nets, Hollis-Jefferson appeared in 234 games, while averaging 9.8 points a night on 44.9% shooting, to go with his 5.8 rebounds per game.
Though he seems to be doing well with his new team, the Toronto Raptors, Hollis-Jefferson didn’t want to leave Brooklyn — which he expressed to reporters leading up to Saturday’s matchup with his old team, per Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet:
Man, it was like I grew up there. Coming into the league at 19, 20, in New York in particular, Brooklyn — it’s definitely a gritty place. A loving atmosphere. But they want you to play hard every night in ways like Toronto. They want you to go out and get after it. Just being there, seeing that culture, letting the fanbase grow on me, my family — it was definitely tough.
Hollis-Jefferson continued:
When you’re coming into the league, when you see guys like Kobe [Bryant] play his whole career on one team, Dirk Nowitzki, you kind of want to be the next guy to do something like that. Things don’t work out. Of course, it’s a business. I definitely was a little bit hurt. But it’s part of the game.
As to whether or not this is a revenge game for the wing, Hollis-Jefferson said:
I’m a competitor, so I look forward to every matchup. But this one in particular.
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