Fat Hands
03-15-2016, 04:39 PM
In my opinion, Mark Jackson is a salty, bitter, morbid, miserable exgirlfriend who hasn't quite finished puddling up in her pint of ice cream.
When you break up from someone, the first thing you hope for is that you find someone better. To date, nobody has offered Jackson any sort of role in their coaching ranks - not even his hometown New York Knicks; a job he famously flirted with while still under contract here and a team who desperately needed a change of culture (much like Jackson provided the Warriors). The Bockers instead took a flyer on unproven (and, thus far, ineffective) rookie HC Derek Fisher instead of entertaining a guy coming off a 50-win season. Through 76 games, the Knicks gave the reigns to a guy whose gotten them all of 14 wins. You read that right. Instead of Mark Jackson, the New York Knicks decided to give a job to a guy whose gotten them 14 wins on the season. Ouch.
But sometimes being single isn't all that bad. It gives you time to work on yourself, to reflect, to become a better, more complete individual who will be more capable of succeeding in his next relationship. Except... when you're chronically single and stuck watching TV at home every night, the one thing you PRAY for is that your ex isn't out finding someone to replace you before you can replace her. Especially not someone better than you.
And boom. The Warriors' marriage with Steve Kerr has not only been a joy to watch, but it has harvested some of the sweetest statistical fruit the franchise has ever known. Most wins ever by a Warriors team, for one. The most efficient defense to pair with the 2nd most efficient offense in the league. A historic point differential that has been above 10 all year long. Every, single last detail that Mark Jackson tried to improve with the Warriors, Kerr has improved better. Every substitution pattern Jackson tried to succeed with, Kerr has already mastered. Kerr is the darling of the local media, while Jackson was a religious blow-hard with a sex tape. Kerr comes on the radio and chops it up with his old buddy, Tom Tolbert. He's quirky, he's funny, he's charismatic. And for a guy who played in Cleveland, Phoenix, Chicago, and San Antonio, along with going to school in Arizona, Kerr already feels like a Bay Area guy. He's one of us... which is not something Mark Jackson ever achieved (or, in all honestly, ever wanted to achieve). Kerr has gone above and beyond in his attempt to integrate himself into the franchise, creating a system of continuity that simply works (Bruce Bochy employs a similar scheme with the Giants). It's a family organization now. The guys play for one another. Jackson, for all the hoopla and ra-ra he kicked up, was just a big talker. The roster wasn't as unified as it is under Kerr. Just ask Andrew Bogut. You can't have a feud with a starting center, the soul of your defensive unit, and still claim that it's one big happy family. Jackson refused to move up to the Bay, instead continuing to work his ministry and live amongst the Southern Californians in Los Angeles. I can't even begin to describe how many nerves it touches when you choose LA over the Bay, particularly to a sports' fan! And even if you could excuse ALL of that, Jackson made no bones about the fact that he always aspired to one day return to his old stomping grounds of New York City and coach the New York Knicks in... Madi-suhn Squaay Gaaden. Jackson was never truly a Warrior. Kerr already is and has coached less than a 3rd of the games Jackson did.
Finally, even if you're single and your ex finds a new partner... even though you'll deny it every step of the way, deep down, in the cellars of your soul, you desperately cling to the hope that they haven't found true happiness. That even though this new guy is better than you on paper, that what you and she had goes BEYOND the cold numbers. That what you had was somehow deeper. I believe Jackson sees that as his relationships with his players. Jackson knows his guys went to bat for him. He kept his mouth shut when Joe Lacob trashed him on the way out. And he did so because he had the adoration of "his guys".
But why the sudden change of tune? Could it be because they're not "his" guys anymore?
Cue the Righteous Brothers, because the Warriors have all-but-lost that loving' feeling with MJax.
Mark Jackson wanted Draymond Green to be his enforcer. That was HIS project. HE wanted to make Draymond Green a player in this league. And he did, to his credit. Draymond Green was a mid-2nd round pick with low upside and few athletic advantages and Mark Jackson found him a niche off the bench in around 18 minutes a night. He was a defensive specialist, an irritant. Jackson was looking to make an Antonio Davis or a poor man's Anthony Mason. Steve Kerr saw Draymond Green as a Dennis Rodman. Now, Green is starting over a former all-star and he is the absolute front-runner for Defensive Player of the Year. Any love Draymond Green felt for Jackson out of gratitude for giving him a chance to play must be radiated tenfold at Kerr for giving him a chance to SHINE. Green is going to make a lot of money this summer and it's mostly thanks to Steve Kerr. If Draymond remained a 15 MPG reserve this season, he makes less money, the Warriors get less wins, and the team suffers as a whole. Advantage 1, Kerr.
How about Klay Thompson? Jackson saw him as a sidekick, whereas Kerr labeled him a star in the media almost immediately. Thompson went from being a niche guy known for breaking rookie 3-point records to a bona fide all-star under Kerr. Once again, advantage Kerr.
And the coup de gras, the big one itself: Stephen Curry going from an all-star PG, known as a top 5 PG, maybe a top 10 player under Jackson, to the front-running candidate for Most Valuable Player - an award, mind you, that NO Warrior has won since the 1959-'60 season. Not first-ballot Hall of Famer, Chris Mullin. Not Finals MVP, Rick Barry. Not Baron Davis or Tim Hardaway, not Chris Webber or Latrell Sprewell, not Nate Thurmond and damn sure not Joe Barry Carroll. The last Warrior MVP was Wilton Norman Chamberlain in 1959 and, get this: he won it for the PHILADELPHIA Warriors. So, technically, Steve Kerr has given Stephen Curry the platform to win the first Most Valuable Player for ANY basketball player in the history of Northern California... hell, he'd be the first MVP in the ENTIRE Redwood Forest territory (no player, from the Bay Area all the way up to Canada, has ever won the MVP... the only West Coast MVPs have been on Laker teams). That's a MONSTROUS achievement. And for all that Jackson did for Curry, he can't compare to an honor like that.
Which is why Mark Jackson is bitter. And salty. And saying things like that on national TV. It's because he's at home, eating pints of ice cream by himself, crying himself stupid, balled up in the fetal position, while his ex THRIVES in a way that they've never thrived before. He has been beaten by a truly better man. And his old team is better in every conceivable manner for it.
****, if I were Mark Jackson, I might be saying salty things, too. Kerr has emasculated him to a point that borderline looks like coaching castration. I can't imagine Jackson will ever get a job coaching in the NBA in the next 5 years. Kerr has made him look like a fool, turning a 6 seed under Jackson into the runaway best team on earth, favored to win the title, the MVP, the DPOY, the COY, and every damn thing in between.
So in closing, I'd just like to say RIP, Mark Jackson's coaching career. http://www.goldenstwarriors.com/images/smilies/icon_salut.gif He knows it, we all know it, and that's why he's throwing shade.
When you break up from someone, the first thing you hope for is that you find someone better. To date, nobody has offered Jackson any sort of role in their coaching ranks - not even his hometown New York Knicks; a job he famously flirted with while still under contract here and a team who desperately needed a change of culture (much like Jackson provided the Warriors). The Bockers instead took a flyer on unproven (and, thus far, ineffective) rookie HC Derek Fisher instead of entertaining a guy coming off a 50-win season. Through 76 games, the Knicks gave the reigns to a guy whose gotten them all of 14 wins. You read that right. Instead of Mark Jackson, the New York Knicks decided to give a job to a guy whose gotten them 14 wins on the season. Ouch.
But sometimes being single isn't all that bad. It gives you time to work on yourself, to reflect, to become a better, more complete individual who will be more capable of succeeding in his next relationship. Except... when you're chronically single and stuck watching TV at home every night, the one thing you PRAY for is that your ex isn't out finding someone to replace you before you can replace her. Especially not someone better than you.
And boom. The Warriors' marriage with Steve Kerr has not only been a joy to watch, but it has harvested some of the sweetest statistical fruit the franchise has ever known. Most wins ever by a Warriors team, for one. The most efficient defense to pair with the 2nd most efficient offense in the league. A historic point differential that has been above 10 all year long. Every, single last detail that Mark Jackson tried to improve with the Warriors, Kerr has improved better. Every substitution pattern Jackson tried to succeed with, Kerr has already mastered. Kerr is the darling of the local media, while Jackson was a religious blow-hard with a sex tape. Kerr comes on the radio and chops it up with his old buddy, Tom Tolbert. He's quirky, he's funny, he's charismatic. And for a guy who played in Cleveland, Phoenix, Chicago, and San Antonio, along with going to school in Arizona, Kerr already feels like a Bay Area guy. He's one of us... which is not something Mark Jackson ever achieved (or, in all honestly, ever wanted to achieve). Kerr has gone above and beyond in his attempt to integrate himself into the franchise, creating a system of continuity that simply works (Bruce Bochy employs a similar scheme with the Giants). It's a family organization now. The guys play for one another. Jackson, for all the hoopla and ra-ra he kicked up, was just a big talker. The roster wasn't as unified as it is under Kerr. Just ask Andrew Bogut. You can't have a feud with a starting center, the soul of your defensive unit, and still claim that it's one big happy family. Jackson refused to move up to the Bay, instead continuing to work his ministry and live amongst the Southern Californians in Los Angeles. I can't even begin to describe how many nerves it touches when you choose LA over the Bay, particularly to a sports' fan! And even if you could excuse ALL of that, Jackson made no bones about the fact that he always aspired to one day return to his old stomping grounds of New York City and coach the New York Knicks in... Madi-suhn Squaay Gaaden. Jackson was never truly a Warrior. Kerr already is and has coached less than a 3rd of the games Jackson did.
Finally, even if you're single and your ex finds a new partner... even though you'll deny it every step of the way, deep down, in the cellars of your soul, you desperately cling to the hope that they haven't found true happiness. That even though this new guy is better than you on paper, that what you and she had goes BEYOND the cold numbers. That what you had was somehow deeper. I believe Jackson sees that as his relationships with his players. Jackson knows his guys went to bat for him. He kept his mouth shut when Joe Lacob trashed him on the way out. And he did so because he had the adoration of "his guys".
But why the sudden change of tune? Could it be because they're not "his" guys anymore?
Cue the Righteous Brothers, because the Warriors have all-but-lost that loving' feeling with MJax.
Mark Jackson wanted Draymond Green to be his enforcer. That was HIS project. HE wanted to make Draymond Green a player in this league. And he did, to his credit. Draymond Green was a mid-2nd round pick with low upside and few athletic advantages and Mark Jackson found him a niche off the bench in around 18 minutes a night. He was a defensive specialist, an irritant. Jackson was looking to make an Antonio Davis or a poor man's Anthony Mason. Steve Kerr saw Draymond Green as a Dennis Rodman. Now, Green is starting over a former all-star and he is the absolute front-runner for Defensive Player of the Year. Any love Draymond Green felt for Jackson out of gratitude for giving him a chance to play must be radiated tenfold at Kerr for giving him a chance to SHINE. Green is going to make a lot of money this summer and it's mostly thanks to Steve Kerr. If Draymond remained a 15 MPG reserve this season, he makes less money, the Warriors get less wins, and the team suffers as a whole. Advantage 1, Kerr.
How about Klay Thompson? Jackson saw him as a sidekick, whereas Kerr labeled him a star in the media almost immediately. Thompson went from being a niche guy known for breaking rookie 3-point records to a bona fide all-star under Kerr. Once again, advantage Kerr.
And the coup de gras, the big one itself: Stephen Curry going from an all-star PG, known as a top 5 PG, maybe a top 10 player under Jackson, to the front-running candidate for Most Valuable Player - an award, mind you, that NO Warrior has won since the 1959-'60 season. Not first-ballot Hall of Famer, Chris Mullin. Not Finals MVP, Rick Barry. Not Baron Davis or Tim Hardaway, not Chris Webber or Latrell Sprewell, not Nate Thurmond and damn sure not Joe Barry Carroll. The last Warrior MVP was Wilton Norman Chamberlain in 1959 and, get this: he won it for the PHILADELPHIA Warriors. So, technically, Steve Kerr has given Stephen Curry the platform to win the first Most Valuable Player for ANY basketball player in the history of Northern California... hell, he'd be the first MVP in the ENTIRE Redwood Forest territory (no player, from the Bay Area all the way up to Canada, has ever won the MVP... the only West Coast MVPs have been on Laker teams). That's a MONSTROUS achievement. And for all that Jackson did for Curry, he can't compare to an honor like that.
Which is why Mark Jackson is bitter. And salty. And saying things like that on national TV. It's because he's at home, eating pints of ice cream by himself, crying himself stupid, balled up in the fetal position, while his ex THRIVES in a way that they've never thrived before. He has been beaten by a truly better man. And his old team is better in every conceivable manner for it.
****, if I were Mark Jackson, I might be saying salty things, too. Kerr has emasculated him to a point that borderline looks like coaching castration. I can't imagine Jackson will ever get a job coaching in the NBA in the next 5 years. Kerr has made him look like a fool, turning a 6 seed under Jackson into the runaway best team on earth, favored to win the title, the MVP, the DPOY, the COY, and every damn thing in between.
So in closing, I'd just like to say RIP, Mark Jackson's coaching career. http://www.goldenstwarriors.com/images/smilies/icon_salut.gif He knows it, we all know it, and that's why he's throwing shade.