Mark Jackson’s case is one of the strangest we’ve ever seen in the history of the NBA.
After taking over a floundering Warriors team in 2011, Jackson helped turn things around in Golden State, leading to consecutive playoff berths for the first time since the early 90s.
Following his third season at the helm, however, Jackson was let go in favor of Steve Kerr. The Warriors brass believed that while the team improved under Jackson, a different person was needed to turn them into a championship contender. That ultimately proved to be true. The Warriors were in the next five NBA Finals under Kerr.
More surprising than Jackson’s firing is the fact that he hasn’t coached since. Reports have chalked this up to clashes he had in Golden State with the front office, and his unwillingness to hire top tier assistant coaches for fear of not being given proper credit.
According to a recent report in The Athletic, LeBron James would “be enthused” if the Lakers hired Jackson to replace the recently fired Frank Vogel. Marcus Thompson of The Athletic thinks Jackson should get a second chance, but also believes at this point LeBron’s opinion doesn’t hold much sway.
“I don’t think LeBron’s making decisions anymore,” Thompson said on KNBR. “Even he’s like I am not making any calls. He knows he blew it. He’s like I’m staying out of this, if they call me I’ve got an opinion.
“We’ve seen LeBron say he wants to come play with Steph. Now we’re seeing him say he wants Mark Jackson. I don’t think it matters anymore. LeBron wanted Russ, so how about you fall back a little bit?
“I think [Jackson] should get another shot. People grow, people change. I think maybe if he’s sitting in interviews and he says ‘I’ll do it again the same way,’ maybe he shouldn’t. Look, people have other issues and they get another shot. It’s a matter of favorability, but the bottom line is the dude rebuilt the Warriors and let them to 51 wins. That’s worth at least a serious interview.
“Who knows what happens in these interviews, man? Sometimes you feel people are qualified and then they tank the interview, so I don’t know. But I do think Mark Jackson, especially if he shown he’s learned from the first experience, it’s been a long time. If he’s grown from it, he’d be a good coach. If he’s willing to hire assistants people respect, that’s one sign, because he didn’t want to hire better assistants. If he does stuff like that I think he should get a shot, even with the parts about him that people don’t like.”
Listen to the full interview below. You can listen to every KNBR interview on our podcast page at knbr.com/podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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