A few years back, the Nets were the toast of the East, the team expected to make it to the Finals each year, even if they would only win one game (or zero in some cases) once there.

They’ve since fallen apart, maybe because they got rid of this year’s Coach of the Year, maybe because they acquired Vince Carter, or maybe because they built their team around people who beat the hell out of others. Richard Jefferson, All Star forward, has been charged with assault.

New Jersey Nets forward Richard Jefferson was arrested Wednesday on charges of assault for grabbing another man by the throat in a Minneapolis club earlier this year.

Jefferson was in town with the team on Jan. 27 when, according to a charge filed, he went to a club in the Graves Hotel where the victim was having a private birthday party in a roped-off section.

The documents say Jefferson entered the area and got angry when he was asked to leave. He is accused of grabbing the victim, shoving him to a bench and choking him with both hands.

I can understand a fight; in the heat of the moment, you get mad, you punch a guy, and hope to get the hell out of there before the police show up. But to get mad, shove a guy, then try to choke him with two hands? That shit’s just crazy. You can chalk this one up as another assist RJ caught from J-Kidd, only it wasn’t a woman, and her name wasn’t Joumana Kidd.