For almost the entirety of Al Jefferson’s 11-year NBA career, he’s been known as “Big Al.”
Now, he is Big Al no more—at least not to Charlotte Hornets teammate Marvin Williams.
In an attempt to keep up with the shifting style of today’s NBA, Al Jefferson, who is listed at 265 pounds on Basketball-Reference, apparently dropped some weight over the offseason—20 pounds to be exact, per Sporting News’ Adi Joseph. And it’s a noticeable change, one that Williams has used to coin a new nickname for Big Al:
Yet Jefferson remains the heart of the roster. Coach Steve Clifford repeatedly calls him the best offensive player on the team. The philosophy is to go “four-out,” putting four shooters on the court. That fifth guy, that’s Jefferson. But that doesn’t mean it’s the same Jefferson who grounded himself in the post last season. The difference is obvious.
“I told him this morning, I don’t know if I can call him ‘Big Al’ anymore, man,” veteran forward Marvin Williams says, pointing to a 20-pounds-lighter Jefferson taking free throws at another basket. “Check him out now — he’s got his shirt off, tank top on, shooting. I told him I’m going to start calling him ‘Slim Al.’ He’s done a hell of a job this summer, really getting focused on his body and coming into camp in great shape, and he’s been leading us ever since.”
Mobile, floor-spacing centers are all the rage. Al Jefferson isn’t your everyday floor-spacer, in that he doesn’t chuck threes, but he has good range for a big man, and his above-average passing chops enable him to be effective in the post without gumming up the offense for too long.
An even slimmer Al Jefferson should be even more dangerous, allowing the Hornets to play a bit faster. They’ve ranked 21st and 20th, respectively, in possessions used per 48 minutes over the last two seasons, according to Basketball-Reference, which is hardly fast. They’ve since brought in guys better-suited for a faster style, from Jeremy Lin to Frank Kaminsky to Nicolas Batum, and Jefferson shouldn’t have any problem keeping up.
More importantly, because he’s not carting around as much weight, he should age better. He’s now on the wrong side of 30, and he missed 17 games last season due to various injuries. The lighter here is, the better he can move; the better he can move, the less likely he is to suffer extensive injuries.
And immediately, that’s good news for the Hornets. They’re chucking a ton of three-pointers these days, in the preseason, but Jefferson is still arguably their most important player. He sucks in the defense. He makes passes out of double-teams. He’s more versatile than Kemba Walker. And with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist done for six months, perhaps the entire season, the Hornets need offense. Al Jefferson is certainly that.
Basically, Charlotte needs “Slim Al” to be big.
