Mark Jackson
Teams
New York Knicks - 1987-92, 2001-02
Los Angeles Clippers - 1992-94
Indiana Pacers - 1994-96, 1997-00
Denver Nuggets - 1996-97
Toronto Raptors - 2000-01
Utah Jazz - 2002-03
Houston Rockets - 2003-04
Playoffs
Appearances - 14 (1988,1989,1990,1991,1992,1993,1995,1996,1998,1999,2000,2001,2003,2004)
Conference Finals - 4 (1995,1998,1999,2000)
NBA Finals - 1 (2000)
Championships - 0
Awards and Honors
Rookie of the Year - 1988
All-NBA Second Team - 0 (1997,1998)
All-NBA Third Team - 0 (1988,1999,2000)
*(actual in bold, deserved in italics)
All-Time Ranks
Total Assists - #4
Assists Per Game - #16
Total Steals - #36
League Leads
Total Assists (#1-1997, #2-1988, #3-1993,1998, #4-2001, #5-1992,1999)
Assists Per Game (#1-1997, #3-1988,1998, #4-1993)
Total Steals (#5-1988)
Mark Jackson was a start point guard at St. John's, where he averaged 18.9 points and 6.4 assists as a senior, then was drafted by his hometown New York Knicks with the 18th overall pick in the NBA Draft in 1987.
Jackson made an immediate impact in New York, winning the Rookie of the Year award after averaging 13.6 points, 10.6 assists, and 2.5 steals, finishing #3 in the league in assists and #5 in steals as a rookie. He was also the lowest-drafted player to win the Rookie of the Year in 30 years, and there wouldn't be another drafted lower for another 29 years.
Jackson improved his scoring the next year to 16.9 per game, which would end up as his career high, and for the remainder of his career he focused a lot more on being a distributor, and he would finish among the league leaders in assists in almost every season the rest of his career.
Jackson signed a contract extension before the 1990-91 season, then had one of the worst seasons of his career, resulting in his being benched for most of the season and averaging less than 7 assists per game for the only time in his first 15 seasons. He bounced back the next year, but the Knicks decided to trade him to the Clippers in 1992.
He spent 2 seasons in LA, and even helped them reach the playoffs once, a rarity for the franchise in those days, averaging 14.4 points and 8.8 assists in his first season out West. After his second season with the team, he was traded to the Indiana Pacers, where he would finally be a part of a true contender.
In his first season with the Pacers, he and Reggie Miller were able to lead the Pacers to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they faced Shaq and the Orlando Magic. The series went to 7 games, with Jackson averaging 11.4 points and 8.0 assists for the series, but they fell just short of reaching the NBA Finals.
After 2 seasons with Indiana, he was traded to the Denver Nuggets, where he began the best season of his career. He was averaging 10.4 points and 12.3 assists for the Nuggets as the trade deadline approached, and Indiana decided to make another trade to bring Jackson back. He finished the season with a league-leading 11.4 assists per game, his first time leading the league after years of being near the top of the leaderboard.
In each of the next 3 seasons, Jackson continued to contend for the assists title while helping get the Pacers to the Conference Finals each year. They finally broke through in 2000, reaching the NBA Finals for the first time, but they fell to Shaq and the Lakers in 6 games in his only appearance in the ultimate series.
After the season, he signed with the Toronto Raptors, who were in need of a point guard, and was still among the league's assist leaders when he was traded again, this time back to his hometown Knicks, where he would finish out the season. Because New York had played fewer games at the time of the trade, Jackson ended up playing in 83 games that year, the 4th time that he had led the league in games played. In fact, there were only 3 times in his 17-year career where he missed more than 3 games.
After one more season with the Knicks, he was traded again to the Nuggets, who released him. He signed with the Utah Jazz, where he backed up John Stockton, and during his time with the team reached #2 on the all-time assist list behind Stockton, but he felt that he should still be a starter, so he left the team after a year.
He signed with the Houston Rockets, but it became apparent pretty quickly that he was past his prime, and he only played in 42 games and averaged only 2.8 assists, by far his career low. His playing career ended after that season.
Though Jackson is not often mentioned among the all-time greats, he was one of the best point guards in the league for 15 years. He was among the top 10 in assists 12 different times, and led the league in the category in 1997, and is still #4 on the all-time list among all players. He never won a championship, but he was an important piece of the Pacers teams that made it to 4 Conference Finals and one NBA Finals in the 1990s and 2000, and deserves to be included on the list of the greatest players of all time.
No comments:
Post a Comment