Memo to Stephen Jackson: Give It a Rest!

(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

Stephen Jackson has recently conveyed to the media that he wishes to be traded to a contender as the Warriors are not playing ‘winning basketball’.

In an off-season where players like Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, and Chris Bosh have been spurred by their team’s efforts to field the best possible team around them, what have the Warriors done?

Other than their much maligned deal to potentially acquire Amare Stoudemire where the team refused to give up Stephen Curry (Warrior fans better hope he’s as good as Dick Vitale thinks he is) I can certainly understand Jackson’s frustration with the Warriors lack of competence in their management team, and owner Chris Cowan’s continued insistence that he is the face of the Warriors. However consider this point. Before he signed a contract extension last year can anyone recall any negative comments made by Jackson at any point?

I certainly cannot which is why Jackson’s call to be traded (to one of the three Texas teams, or a ‘contender’) falls on my deaf ears. Certainly Jackson has the right to want to play on a contender; however he also has to honor his contract, which legally binds him to the team that he plays for. No matter where he plays Jackson will receive 28.5 million dollars for his services.

Frankly I am a bit turned off by Stephen Jackson’s behavior certainly he wasn’t complaining about the state of the team when he re-signed the contact. The team that was constructed wasn’t a playoff contender even in the most unlikely of scenarios. So to complain now after the fact doesn’t display any type of competitiveness streak, it only shows what Warrior fans, and management must have been aware of: Stephen Jackson is only a piece of the puzzle and certainly not a franchise player. Please understand Stephen that there is always a price for fame and fortune; yours is playing for a rudderless team with no direction. So Stephen, do the basketball community a favor and give it a rest already.

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