Stephen Jackson constantly gets negative feedback from the media. Is it deserved after making two mistakes? No, it's not, but unfortunately, the media thrives on being negative instead of looking at the positive side of someone or only show one side of the story.
Two events changed Jackson's career: going into the crowd and punching a fan during the melee at the Palace of Auburn Hills and firing a gun up in the air outside a strip club.
The first event was Jackson protecting his teammate, Ron Artest. No one can say how they would react in the situation that occurred during the fight, whether it would be to fight or try to get out of the situation. Of course, there was the adrenaline rush that goes along with the situation.
Read the short story "Greasy Lake" by T. Coraghessan Boyle. When the main character and his friends are put into a situation like that, they do something that they wouldn't even consider doing if it wasn't for an event that happened with the same fight-or-flight response.
Does it make Jackson's actions right? No. Would he go into a crowd to protect a teammate if he felt like he was in danger? Of course he would.
The second event—shooting the gun in the air—garnered even more negative criticism of Jackson. In fact, because of it, he was suspended for the first seven games last season for the Warriors, who struggled without him on the court, and the Warriors went 1-6 during the time Jackson was out.
Yet, even though the gun incident happened, Jackson was only doing it to protect himself. He is very lucky to be alive after the event because someone was trying to run him down. In fact, he did get hit by that car, and how can anyone blame him for trying to protect himself from someone trying to run him over?
Nope, there's absolutely no way to blame Jackson for that.
Jackson is known as well for his passionate play. He plays the game hard, and he's turned into a very solid player. He plays with a lot of heart and that gets him into trouble because he will wear his emotions on his sleeve if he feels like a call was missed.
That gets him into trouble with refs because he does manage to get a lot of technicals, but he's gotten better at not letting the refs get to him. Although, there will be times when he will get ejected, but I would rather have a player like that then a player who shows absolutely no emotion.
Since the media likes the negative stories, where were they when Jackson was serving his seven-game suspension and donating him time to the Oakland community? The answer there weren't any articles written about it? What about Jackson over the summer donating his time and money to the Show Me Campaign.
In the article "Jackson To Fight Poverty Globally" by Geoff Lepper, Jackson is quoted as saying ""I know that we have nothing to complain about, considering what they're dealing with out there," Jackson said. "(Jeffrey Sachs' book, The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time) really opened my eyes to how unfortunate these people are. I want to be involved in it. When John Legend came around and gave me the opportunity, I just jumped on it."
When Jackson was a teammate of Tim Duncan, Tim described Jackson as being the "ultimate teammate."
8 comments Last one added 2 days ago — Leave a Comment
Yama Hazheer 9 months ago
Great read, agree with you. Jackson is seen as a thug because of his past actions, but has really matured since coming to the Bay Area. He is one of my favorite players because he's such a great leader for the team.
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Joel Creager 9 months ago
Stephen Jackson is a mac gnar gnar faced badmasher with a chip on his shoulder and a splash of special sauce in his chalice. He is going to turn anthony randoph into a beast. I can't wait to see the rosters and mismatches after ellis returns. Everyone always talks about a starting five. That is never the case with the Warriors
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Joel Creager 9 months ago
(sorry it submitted itself)
As it stands right now I would say that on any given game there are only 3 players that are guaranteed a starting spot on the warriors (at least until ellis returns). Those players are Jackson, Maggette and Biedrins. Even then Biedrins did not start a number of games last year. Harrington is more fit this year, and is going to be playing as a smaller 4 or a large 3 this year. I would include him to make the list a starting 4, but he has failed my expectations on multiple occasions. Though that is probably because he was not playing within his comfort zone. Something the coaches have hinted will change this year. To his credit a breakout season is within reach. Regardless, he still has to prove his consistency. The thing is that 2/3 nights Nelson is going to thrown in at least 1 or 2 surprise starters. That is why jackson is going to be so important as a team leader this year. The interesting thing about the Warriors is that the primary leaders aside, the pecking order goes straight out the window when he gets a plan in his head.
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Don Cabreana 9 months ago
Nice read. With all the negative articles, people rippin' on coaches and players for performance, who are doing things that they could never do, it's nice to read about something we can all relate to. I don't know if I can particularly defend either of the big two actions Jackson partook in, or the immense amount of technicals he receives, but counter that with the stellar community service he performs, and you see a complex, emotional, real human being. He's a Shakespearian character in a Dr. Suess sports world. Wish the mainstream media would have a ticker across the bottom of the screen that read "Jackson donates money to charity; improves peoples lives," instead of "Pacman investigated for altercation with bodyguard."
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Khalid Shakran 9 months ago
I agree, nice read Steve. Jackson's image once he landed in the YAY area has completely turned around drastically. I think last season, he won the community leader award in April or March (somethin like that). He's had his basketball foundation in Port Arthur Texas built and ready to run this summer and he has taken the teenagers of the Warriors under his wing.
He's the leader of the W's and it will be that way for the next two years....I hope.
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Evan Aczon 9 months ago
great article steve. Its too true, though, and people are way too quick to jump to his "questionable character" and overlook all of his charitable work off the court. If that's not going to redeem anyone's character, then I don't know what is.
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Pat De Marco 6 months ago
Great article Steve. Many in the media do obsess over the negative story, and they don't like to credit anyone when they do something well.
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Jonathan Slotter 2 days ago
I agree! He is a great person. He does lots of charity work, he puts money into a lot of charities and all teammates have said he is great. He gets a lot of negative rep but he does play hard and I agree completely with you on that. Good work.
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