Jefferson relishes opportunity with Jazz

Six seasons mostly filled with frustration and defeat. Three hundred and twenty-nine losses. Three major injuries before the age of 25.

Al Jefferson has endured it all.

But after spending the first part of his career putting up eye-catching numbers in a barren no-man’s land, the only major piece the Utah Jazz added during a period of subtraction has found a home.

A city that he appreciates and enjoys. A team that has welcomed him with open arms, loaded with like-minded players who have all long been one step removed from the promised land. A committed, no-give coaching staff that wants to build on his strengths and refine his weaknesses. And a legion of fans who once seemed to fear and hate him but now offer love and support before “Big Al” has even played his first game in a Jazz uniform.

Six years into a still-promising career, the 6-foot-10, 265-pound Jefferson is on his third team and his third new start. But everything feels different this time. Promise and hope have replaced defeat and despair. And with training camp for the 2010-11 season just two days away, the 25-year-old Jefferson has never been more excited.

“It’s just a great opportunity for me,” he said. “I feel like I’m an essential piece to this puzzle here. And I think, with everything I bring to the table, it can really help this team get to the next level.

“It can also help me show the world the type of player that I can be. So it’s just a blessing. I’m really excited that they traded for me because they didn’t have to do it. They believed in me. They believed that I can be the guy that they need.”

There was a call from Jazz All-Star point guard Deron Williams. One during which the proud, but sometimes reserved, Williams cut through the normal grandstanding hyperbole and went straight for the heart. Williams told Jefferson that he was also going to an All-Star. It was everything — and the only thing — Big Al wanted to hear.

“When he said that to me, I believed him,” Jefferson said. “He wasn’t just talking. He wasn’t just saying it because it sounded good. He really means that. And I’m not going to do nothing to mess that up.”