BOSTON -- Richard Jefferson didn't have to be here, not when he averaged seven points and nearly seven rebounds for the New Jersey Nets in the NBA Finals less than a month ago.

	No one can question the work ethic of Richard Jefferson, who's playing summer league ball.

But sitting out the voluntary Shaw's Pro Summer League at the University of Massachusetts-Boston this week would be a cop out. Especially when he wants to be a starter, let alone an NBA household name.

"I want to be a star," Jefferson said. "If you're healthy and stay healthy throughout the year, then you should be in this thing."

This thing is a 10-team league filled with 2002 first- and second-round draft picks, end-of-bench veterans and free agents hoping to get invited to training camp in the fall. Jefferson's teammate, Kerry Kittles, made a cameo last year, but that was related to a rehab stint. Second-year pros who are major contributors rarely attend the summer league.

And that's why Jefferson's presence this week in Boston makes more of a major statement about his work ethic than it does about his overall talent.

"I want to get better," Jefferson said. "I played a lot of minutes last year and this was a chance for me to work on things I need to work on -- my post game and playing some two-guard. It's going to make me a better player and our team a better team."

"It's very rare," Jefferson added. "But I want to be one of the better players. I was rested. I wasn't tired."

Jefferson, picked 13th overall by Houston and traded on draft day to New Jersey in June of 2001, would be a first-year player this coming season had he finished his eligibility at Arizona. He's still in that this-is-still-pretty-cool stage of being an NBA player. He's not jaded; he isn't overrun by his ego. And his posse, when he does have someone around him, usually consists of former Arizona teammates Jason Gardner and Luke Walton.

Last week, Jefferson was in Indianapolis hanging out and working out with Gardner at the Nike All-American camp. So when the Nets' management asked him if he wanted to go to Boston to work on his post game, his leadership skills and playing the two, he said "What time do we leave?"

	“	I know a lot of guys would love my contract and wouldn't mind being in my position. I'm going to do everything we can to protect me and get better. ”
		— Richard Jefferson

"I wouldn't be doing anything but sitting at home and playing in some horrible runs (pickup games) in Phoenix," said Jefferson, who is single and doesn't buy that a player with a family would need to be home all offseason. "This is your job. You can spend three weeks with your family do what you have to do and then come to Boston. This isn't a bad city to bring your wife, your child. I would bring my wife and child here for five days and play some games. This is what you have to do to get better. And some of the players who don't play as many minutes are here because they want to get better."

The 6-foot-7 Jefferson was one of the most athletic small forwards in the Eastern Conference last season and one of the better rookie defenders. He averaged 9.4 points and 3.7 rebounds and was named Rookie of the Month in January. He finished as the team's leading scorer off the bench.

Jefferson, who got booted from a game Tuesday after getting into a minor scrape with Atlanta first-round pick Dan Dickau after an errant elbow, was scoring in the high teens and had nine assists in one game. He'll leave Friday to go to San Diego for a friend's wedding.

"You can find runs, but they won't be consistent because here players have to be here every day," Jefferson said. "You're accountable for your actions when there are people watching. If you're not playing hard or dogging it, people will see. When there's nobody watching, people don't play hard. That's just human nature.

"That's why I'm here. I know a lot of guys would love my contract and wouldn't mind being in my position. I'm going to do everything we can to protect me and get better."

Jefferson said he would return to Boston next summer, unless he gets hurt. He wants to continue to hone his skills and prove he can become a great player, not just another good one by blowing off the quality games in the summer.

Andy Katz is a senior writer for ESPN.com.