Ah, it's that magical time of the season. When the stars of lottery teams shut it down.
Stephen Jackson is shutting it down because of a nagging toe injury. If there's one guy you can't fault for calling it a season, it's Jackson. He's battled through injuries, through an embarrassing season, through the complete lack of a plan formulated by the franchise heads. And with the playoffs long ago a dream, there's just not much point in pushing what is probably a pretty painful injury any further.
But what are the long term goals of this club anyway? And how does this affect Jackson's future?
Here's the deal with Jackson, or at least as it seems. For all his off-the-court notoriety, he's a consummate pro. There's a reason the most character-driven team in the league, San Antonio always rave about his locker room presence. And that's why, despite the monster contract the team gave to the moped enthusiast, Monta Ellis, he has gone out and played his guts out, led the team. Jackson notoriously took great pride in being named a captain, something most NBA players yawn at.
But part of being a pro is self-respect. And while Jackson is unlikely to go about spewing his bad blood to the press, he's likely had it up to his famous tattoo with the shenanigans going on at the house of Nellie. As our boy Tom points out over at The Sporting Blog, there has been a ton of shenanigans. Don Nelson has shoved out Mullin. And the rotations this year could be called, if you wanted, bizarre.
Nelson's system is wide-open. It should reward hyper-athletic, young players with tons of energy. Yet all season long, Mullin has relied on Jackson as the focal point on both sides of the ball, benched the younger players only to reverse completely and thrust them into long minutes, and failed to successfully adjust his roster to fit his style or his style to fit his roster. And while Jackson is a leader of men and a tremendous shooter, as Ziller points out, he needs a check. But then, checks are not really a part of how Nelson rolls. And while the decisions may be supportive of Jackson's ego, losing is not a part of how Jackson rolls, even after the contract he was given earlier this season.
If Monta Ellis' return, and as our own 'Metz pointed out, his terrific play since his return, had made an impact in the wins column, you might be able to suggest that the summer will be one of hope for the Warriors. But with $36 million tied up in four players next year, two of them at or above the age of 30 (and that's before the Jamal Crawford conundrum), it's going to take some serious maneuvering by a guy who's just confirmed that he's only got two more years in him to get them moving forward, and to keep Jackson from working on an escape route.
