Stephen Jackson Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Stephen Jackson Aiming For NBA Comeback

June 29th, 2016 at 8:33am CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors have shown some interest in adding longtime NBA forward Stephen Jackson to their coaching staff, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. However, as Stein tweets, Jackson isn’t interested in transitioning into the next phase of his career quite yet — the 38-year-old, who announced his retirement last summer, hopes to find a spot on an NBA roster for this season.

Jackson himself confirmed as much during an appearance on ESPN’s The Jump (video link), suggesting that he “definitely didn’t leave” on his own terms and that he has been working out and keeping himself in shape in the hopes of making a comeback.

Given how long he has been away from the game, Jackson could likely had be had on a minimum-salary contract, which might interest some teams around the NBA. But even though clubs may kick the tires on the former second-round pick, his multiyear absence from the league will give those clubs pause. Jackson hasn’t appeared on the court since January of 2014, and hasn’t had a real rotation role on an NBA team since the 2012/13 season, when he played with the Spurs.

Over the course of his 14 NBA seasons, Jackson averaged 15.1 points per game in 858 regular-season contests, and appeared in another 72 playoff games. He was also a member of the Spurs squad that won the Finals at the end of the 2002/03 season. However, Jackson’s numbers dipped significantly near the end of his career — in his last three seasons, he averaged 7.4 PPG with a .369 FG% in 111 games with the Bucks, Spurs, and Clippers.

Stephen Jackson Retires

July 23rd, 2015 at 9:26am CST by Chuck Myron

NBA: San Antonio Spurs at Denver Nuggets

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Stephen Jackson has decided to retire from pro basketball, as he revealed via Instagram (hat tip to Manny Randhawa of the Indianapolis Star). The 37-year-old last played during the 2013/14 season for the Clippers. He saw action for eight different NBA teams across 14 seasons, remembered as much for his mercurial demeanor as his potent scoring prowess.

Jackson averaged 15.1 points a game for his career, a remarkable accomplishment given that he was just the 42nd overall pick in 1997. The swingman who came from Butler County Community College in Kansas didn’t appear in his first regular season game until more than three years later, though he jumped in and started 40 games for the Nets as a rookie in 2000/01. He moved on to the Spurs, where he helped them win the 2003 title, and he emerged as a scoring force with the Hawks the next season before a trade to the Pacers. His involvement in the 2004 brawl with the Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills marred his tenure in Indiana, but a trade to the Warriors in the 2006/07 season revitalized his career.

Golden State entered the playoffs as the eighth seed and the shocked top-seeded Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs in Jackson’s first spring with the team, and the next season, he eclipsed 20 PPG for the first time in Don Nelson’s up-tempo offense. He set a career high with 20.7 PPG in 2008/09, but the Warriors traded him early the next season to Charlotte, where he helped the then-Bobcats to their first playoff appearance. He didn’t find as much success at his next stop with the Bucks, and his desire for a contract extension hasted his exit from Milwaukee, which sent him back to Golden State in the Andrew Bogut trade. The Warriors flipped him back to the Spurs two days later, but though he spent more than a year in his second San Antonio stint, he sparred with coach/president Gregg Popovich, and the team released him shortly before the 2013 playoffs as Jackson struggled to adapt to his diminished game. The Clippers signed him to a non-guaranteed deal early in 2013/14 but waived him a few weeks later rather than guarantee it for the season.

Jackson, who switched from Dan Fegan of Relativity Sports to Herb Rudoy of Interperformances before his Clippers stint, raked in more than $68.882MM for his career, according to Basketball-Reference and Basketball Insiders data. Remarkably, he only once made more than $10MM in a single season, and that came in 2012/13 with the Spurs.

What will you remember most about Jackson? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

Clippers Waive Stephen Jackson

January 7th, 2014 at 2:03pm CST by Luke Adams

2:03pm: Jackson has officially been waived, according to the Clippers.

8:43am: The Clippers have yet to make it official, but “signs are pointing” to Stephen Jackson being released by today’s guarantee deadline, says Dan Woike of the Orange County Register (via Twitter). Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com echoes that sentiment, tweeting that it’s a safe bet the Clips will waive Jackson.

Jackson signed a non-guaranteed deal with the Clippers last month, but hasn’t seen significant action, despite the fact that Matt Barnes, Reggie Bullock, and J.J. Redick have all missed time with various ailments. In nine appearances, the 35-year-old has played 11.9 minutes per game, averaging just 1.7 PPG with a .231 FG% and a 0.2 PER. He was the team’s only healthy, active player not to see action in last night’s blowout of the Magic.

The Clippers also waived Maalik Wayns‘ non-guaranteed contract this week, but immediately filled Wayns’ spot on the roster by signing Darius Morris to a 10-day contract. So if and when L.A. officially releases Jackson, it will reduce the club’s roster count to 14 players — 13 guaranteed deals, plus Morris’ 10-day deal. That open roster spot would give the Clips the flexibility to add another player on a 10-day contract, or even to pursue Andrew Bynum, once he clears waivers.

California Notes: Kobe, Jackson, Thomas

December 25th, 2013 at 8:56am CST by Charlie Adams

Merry Christmas from Hoops Rumors! There’s plenty of NBA action set to take place today, including an intriguing matchup between the Heat and Lakers. In the preseason, this game was billed as a would-be face-off in Los Angeles between LeBron James and a recently having-returned Kobe Bryant. Unfortunately, Bryant finds himself sidelined once again and won’t be playing anytime soon. This will mark the first time time that Bryant has missed a game on Christmas since 1991. Let’s take a look at a few NBA notes from within the state of California..

Ramona Shelburne over at ESPNLosAngeles.com examines how different the Lakers are without Bryant, and not just for his on-court heroics. She points to his strong leadership and work ethic that are missed by teammates and goes on to suggest that in his absence, the club has struggled to find its identity.
Matt Barnes was a “big advocate” of Stephen Jackson signing with the Clippers, reports Eric Patten of Clippers.com. Barnes and Jackson are good friends and have a similar hard-nosed demeanor on the court. They were teammates in Golden State for several years but haven’t found themselves playing together since the conclusion of the 2007/08 NBA season.
Ailene Voisin from the Sacramento Bee writes that despite being the last pick in the 2011 draft, Isaiah Thomas has outperformed all the other players who have competed to be the starting point guard for the Kings, including Tyreke Evans, Jimmer Fredette, Aaron Brooks, and Greivis Vasquez. Says Thomas: “I’ve always had to prove something… I still look at getting picked last as being disrespected. Some teams passed on me twice. The Lakers had four picks and passed on me four times. The questions, all that stuff, it just motivates me.”

Clippers Sign Stephen Jackson

December 10th, 2013 at 10:28pm CST by Chuck Myron

TUESDAY 10:28pm: The Clippers have officially announced the Jackson signing via press release. Arash Markazi of ESPN Los Angeles tweets that Jackson will be with the team in Boston tomorrow.

MONDAY 5:00pm: Jackson still hasn’t signed his contract, according to Dan Woike of the Orange County Register, but the Clippers hope to make the move official tomorrow (Twitter links).

3:43pm: Jackson’s deal is expected to be non-guaranteed, and it wouldn’t affect the team’s pursuit of Odom, Amick says via Twitter.

3:13pm: Jackson has signed a deal with the Clippers, reports Shams Charania of RealGM.com. Presumably, it’s a non-guaranteed contract for the minimum salary. The team has yet to confirm the signing.

2:19pm: A deal between Jackson and the Clippers is “very close” but not done yet, USA Today’s Sam Amick tweets. Last night, Jackson tweeted, “I never lost faith. The wait is over.”

8:30am: Veteran swingman Stephen Jackson is a “prime candidate” to fill the Clippers’ open roster spot, according to Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. Coach and senior vice president of basketball operations Doc Rivers said this weekend that he believes mounting injuries will force the team to add a player. A Jackson signing could happen as early as this week, Stein and Shelburne write.

Jackson has been working out independently in Texas will the goal of latching on with a contender, and the Clippers would fit that bill. The 35-year-old didn’t attend training camp with an NBA team, having last played with the Spurs before San Antonio surprisingly released him just before last season’s playoffs. Jackson had asked for a trade and was reluctant to accept a reduced role. He changed agents last month, hooking on with the Interperformances firm.

Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com mentioned Shannon Brown as a potential Clippers target this weekend, though much of the team’s focus in recent weeks has been on Lamar Odom. The team’s preference had been to wait until after Christmas to sign Odom, Stein and Shelburne say, since he might not be ready to play until mid-January, but it’s unclear how the Clippers’ plans regarding Odom have changed in the wake of all of their injuries. J.J. Redick, Matt Barnes and Reggie Bullock are among those on the team missing significant time.

The Clippers have a 14-man roster, meaning there’s only room for one more player. They could sign someone to a non-guaranteed contract and release him prior to the leaguewide guarantee date on January 10th to make room for Odom. All of the 14 players currently on the team have fully guaranteed contracts, and while the Clippers could still cut one of those guys, the team probably wants to avoid paying someone who would no longer be around. That’s especially so since the Clippers are a projected taxpayer.

California Rumors: Gay, Kings, Clippers, Warriors

December 10th, 2013 at 12:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee suggests the Kings will engage in extension talks with Rudy Gay if he’s productive and fills the team’s longstanding void at small forward. That’s similar to the stance former Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo took after he acquired him last season, and Colangelo tells Voisin that he thinks Sacramento’s Gay trade signifies the Kings’ clear intention to increase their talent-level, rather than sell off assets. It’s a bit surprising, considering some GMs feel Gay wouldn’t be worthy of even the midlevel exception, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe wrote Monday. There’s more from Voisin’s piece among our glance at California’s teams:

Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro suggests that his team is indeed lacking enough talent, Voisin notes. “We’re not kidding anybody,” D’Alessandro said before Monday’s victory over the Mavs. “We’re a long way from being a completed product. We have five wins. We need players here.”
The NBA probably would have allowed the Clippers to acquire Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett as well as Doc Rivers this summer if they hadn’t been so transparent in their attempts to obtain all three at once, several sources tell Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck. Rivers says his job this year would be easier if Pierce and Garnett were around, and Beck hears that Rivers “absolutely” wanted to bring the two former Celtics with him to L.A.
Rivers explained why the Clippers are ready to add Stephen Jackson and offered a strong hint that the pact will be non-guaranteed, as Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times passes along. “He’s had his issues. There’s no doubt about it,” Rivers said. “He’s breathing and living and I think if that’s true, you should always give a guy another chance.…The good news is contractually, if it doesn’t work, we’ll walk.”
Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group bats around a few possible upgrades to the Warriors bench, surmising that GM Bob Myers and company are more likely to look for cheaper options than ones that push them into tax territory.

Poll: Will Stephen Jackson Play In NBA In ’13/14?

November 8th, 2013 at 2:53pm CST by Luke Adams

Sports agency Interperformances announced today that it has added Stephen Jackson to its list of clients. While no reason was provided for the change, I speculated that perhaps Jackson was disappointed in the ability of his previous reps at Relativity Sports to secure him an NBA job for this season.

Jackson, 35, was last seen appearing in 55 games for the 2012/13 Spurs, a team that eventually came within a miracle Ray Allen three-pointer of winning the NBA Finals. It’s hard to argue that Jackson played a huge role in San Antonio’s success. Not only were his averages of 6.2 PPG and an 8.0 PER his worst in over a decade, but the team also released him during the last week of the regular season, replacing him with Tracy McGrady for the postseason.

Still, one of the league’s best teams made Jackson a part of its rotation for the majority of the season. Despite his declining numbers, that seems to suggest the veteran small forward has something left in the tank, so it’d be a little surprising not to see him return to the NBA at some point.

In Jackson’s case, of course, his availability can probably be attributed less to his talent than to his strong personality and his unrealistic expectations. Reports that surfaced following his release from San Antonio suggested Jackson was unable to admit that players like Manu Ginobili and Danny Green were better than him. Although he may have been humbled by the experience, it’s still hard to imagine Jackson accepting a non-guaranteed, minimum salary contract, which may be the most an NBA team is willing to offer right now.

ESPN.com’s Marc Stein predicted earlier this week that Jackson will be back in the NBA, since teams are more inclined to roll the dice on veterans who have extensive playoff experience and the ability to be difference-makers. It wouldn’t surprise me if Stein is right, but on the other hand, we recently saw a player like Michael Redd slip quietly into retirement. Even though Redd was more efficient in 2011/12 than Jackson was last season, the longtime Buck was unable to land another NBA contract.

What do you think? Will we see Jackson in the NBA this season?

Odds & Ends: Jackson, Fesenko, Clippers

November 8th, 2013 at 11:48am CST by Luke Adams

As we look forward to a weekend full of NBA action, let’s round up a few odds and ends from around the Association….

Veteran free agent Stephen Jackson has changed agents, according to Interperformances, who announced today that the ex-Spur has signed with the agency. Jackson had previously been represented by Dan Fegan and Relativity Sports, but it seems his lack of employment prompted him to make a change.
Following an offseason that included a record 13 head coaching changes, one unnamed coach tells Sean Deveney of the Sporting News that “everyone’s scared s—less out there.” Added the anonymous coach: “There’s different criteria being measured on coaches and it is not just winning. You can win your ass off and still get fired.”
Former NBA big man Kyrylo Fesenko has signed with Slask Wroclaw in Poland, according to the team (English link via Sportando). Fesenko, a second-round pick in 2007, played with the Jazz for four seasons before a brief stint with the Pacers in 2011/12.
In the view of Lang Greene of HoopsWorld, the Clippers‘ offseason signing of Byron Mullens was an unheralded move that could pay long-term dividends.
ESPN.com’s Chad Ford continues his week-long, Insider-only breakdown of top prospects by position, as he previews the best big men expected to be available in the 2014 draft.

Odds & Ends: Miller, Kennedy, Lighty, Pau

October 27th, 2013 at 10:36pm CST by Luke Adams

Quincy Miller is one of a handful of players whose contract will become guaranteed by virtue of earning a spot on his team’s opening day roster, as our schedule of guarantee dates shows. Now that he’s breathing a little easier, Miller can focus on contributing to the Nuggets, particularly with players ahead of him in the rotation sidelined with injuries, writes Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post.

Here are a few more Sunday odds and ends:

D.J. Kennedy, who was in camp with the Mavericks, has officially signed overseas with French team BCM Gravelines, tweets Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
The Hawks waived David Lighty earlier this month, and he’s headed back to JSF Nanterre in France, where he starred last season, according to Alexandre Lacoste of Catch and Shoot (hat tip to Sportando).
As he enters a contract year, Pau Gasol feels better than he expected he would. Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com has the details.
Lance Thomas didn’t consider the idea of playing for another team after the Pelicans waived him in July, he tells Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune. He wound up re-signing for the same salary, with a $15K partial guarantee thrown in.
Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News writes that Stephen Jackson will have to accept a lesser role or perhaps even a D-League stint if he’s going to continue his playing career.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Latest On Notable Veteran Free Agents

October 3rd, 2013 at 8:53am CST by Luke Adams

Even with about 550 players currently under contract with NBA teams, there are still a number of interesting names remaining on our list of 2013/14 free agents. That list will only grow in the next several weeks, as teams release camp invitees in an effort to reduce their roster counts to the regular-season maximum of 15. Still, it wouldn't be surprising to see some of the players presently available to land on NBA teams once the season gets underway.

Injuries are already starting to pile up for some teams, and when a club needs to add an extra body or two during the season, a veteran addition is more likely than a rookie signing. Even if a team would rather take a look at a few young players during camp, a known commodity has more value when that same team needs immediate help during the season.

So which players could we see join teams at some point after training camp ends? Here are a few names to keep in mind, along with the latest rumors and updates we've heard about them:

Rodrigue Beaubois
Previous team: Mavericks
Latest updates: The Heat were reportedly hoping to bring Beaubois in for an "audition," but a wrist injury derailed those plans. If and when he gets healthy, Beaubois could draw renewed interest, though perhaps a lottery team would be more likely to take a flier than a contender.

Jason Collins
Previous team: Wizards
Latest updates: ESPN.com's Marc Stein recently explored Collins' free agency, identifying the Nets, Wizards, and Clippers as potential fits for the big man. Coach Mike Woodson also confirmed that the Knicks kicked the tires on Collins before deciding to go younger.

Chris Duhon
Previous team: Lakers
Latest updates: The Knicks and Sixers were said to be considering Duhon back in August, and we heard again about Philadelphia's interest last month. The team went younger and cheaper shortly thereafter though, signing Darius Morris.

Richard Hamilton
Previous team: Bulls
Latest updates: A report a month ago indicated that the Rockets and Knicks could have interest, but both clubs have several other options for now. Perhaps New York could re-emerge as a viable option if J.R. Smith has lingering issues related to his offseason knee surgery.

Josh Howard
Previous team: Timberwolves
Latest updates: While some of the players on this list may be waiting out the market in the hopes that teams will get more desperate when rosters are reduced to 15 players and injuries start to add up, Howard was said to be in the market for a camp invite. That doesn't seem to bode well for his chances of catching on with an NBA team this season, though there's still plenty of time.

Stephen Jackson
Previous team: Spurs
Latest updates: Jackson was linked to the Rockets and Heat back in August, but both of those teams have several other three-point shooters in the mix. With Jackson's production in decline, clubs may be reluctant to roll the dice on the 35-year-old and his strong personality.

Mickael Pietrus
Previous team: Raptors
Latest updates: Although Pietrus received a camp invite from the Spurs, he continues to seek a guaranteed deal, as he did a year ago. It worked out for him last fall, when he signed a guaranteed contract with the Raptors several weeks into the season, but he didn't play well and didn't stay healthy in Toronto. We'll see if his patient approach to free agency pays off again this time around.

Other notable veterans on the market: Daequan Cook, Drew Gooden, Lamar Odom, Sasha Pavlovic, Tyrus Thomas, Jamaal Tinsley, Luke Walton, Hakim Warrick, Chris Wilcox