Richard Jefferson: It'd Be 'Insanity' to Put Asterisk on 2019-20 NBA Champion

The 2019-20 NBA season will be finished in an unprecedented way, but retired forward Richard Jefferson doesn't believe that should translate into an asterisked championship.

"I think that's insanity," Jefferson told ESPN's Doris Burke. "Let's just go back in history. Are there any asterisks next to all of the home run hitters? Are there any asterisks next to the [Houston] Astros? Are there any asterisks next to the San Antonio Spurs? There are no asterisks. They don't exist."

Jefferson was referring to the 1998-99 Spurs, who won the NBA Finals in a lockout-shortened season in which the regular season consisted of only 50 games. 

The NBA's Board of Governors and Players Association last week each approved a return-to-play plan for the 22 winningest of the league's 30 teams to resume this season at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida, on July 31:

"Each returning team would play eight seeding games, as selected from its remaining regular-season matchups," the NBA's official release outlined June 4. "At the conclusion of the seeding games, the seven teams in each conference with the best combined records across regular-season games and seeding games would qualify for the playoffs."

At that point, the traditional playoff format will come into effect, with the Finals ending no later than Oct. 12.

The season was suspended March 11 after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. The league is still fine-tuning how to keep players safe from the ongoing pandemic while in the Orlando bubble:

Prior to the hiatus, the 53-12 Milwaukee Bucks, 49-14 Los Angeles Lakers, 46-18 Toronto Raptors and 43-21 Boston Celtics were the only four teams to have clinched a playoff berth. However, under the new plan, the first six teams in each conference qualify for the postseason.

Jefferson was the 13th overall pick in the 2001 draft and played for the then-New Jersey Nets (2001-08), Milwaukee Bucks ('08-09), San Antonio Spurs ('09-12), Golden State Warriors ('12-13), Utah Jazz ('13-14), Dallas Mavericks ('14-15), Cleveland Cavaliers ('15-17) and Denver Nuggets ('17-18).

The 39-year-old won the 2016 Finals with the Cavaliers alongside LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.