Stephen Jackson Is Underappreciated as a Person

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." 

Marcus Thompson of the Contra Costa Times is quoted as saying, "He takes the younger players under his wing, taking them shopping, dispensing advice, lending an ear. What’s more, he does the little things that are unbecoming of a millionaire thug. He looks people in the eye when they talk to him, as if he cares about what they’re saying. He frequently doles out handshakes, half-hugs, he returns phone calls. He mends fences, lifts spirits, and makes others feel special."

Gwen Knapp of the San Francisco Chronicle had this to say about Jackson, "He couldn't have been more charming or more engaged, the perfect face of the franchise."

Even Donnie Walsh, the man solely responsible for the trade of Jackson to Golden State, has stated, "I love Jack to death. He's emotional and he's going to get technicals. But that's just part of the package. He's a great team guy."

When Matt Barnes's mother was dying of cancer, Jackson offered to delay his return from suspension to be there for Barnes in case he needed support. Even when Barnes was not with the team, Jackson wrote Barnes's No. 22 on his headband.

Jackson also set up an event with Southwest Airlines in his hometown of Port Arthur, TX for elementary schoolers with an essay contest, which would allow 10 students to meet Jackson and as well see the following nights game.

In Oct. 8's preseason game, Jackson really wanted to post up Rudy Fernandez of the Portland Trail Blazers, but Fernandez made a great play and knocked the ball away. Since I'm in Portland, it was the Blazers announcers calling the game.

So, when Fernandez went down with the sprained ankle, the two announcers Mike Rice and Mike Barett were going over who was helping Fernandez off the court. They announced the trainer for the Blazers and another blazer were helping him off the court, but the actual person who helped get Fernandez off the court was Stephen Jackson, who had helped him up so he could stand with the help of the two Blazers personnel.

So, did the Blazers announcers even mention it? No.

It's time for the media to stop judging Jackson by the two mistakes he made in the past. Everyone makes mistakes; would you want to be judged by your mistakes? Or would you rather be judged by the good deeds you have done? Jackson has grown, and he's a great person. It's time for the media to start appreciating him as a person and not from those two events.