ESPN.com’s Mark Stein is reporting that Stephen Jackson will meet with team officials on Tuesday, as Golden State prepares to, at least for the time being, welcome Jackson back their team. From Stein:
Report: Jackson and Coach Don Nelson to Meet Tuesday
The Golden State Warriors will attempt to work unhappy forward Stephen Jackson back into their team fold starting Tuesday, when the Warriors are scheduled to hold their first home practice following four straight preseason games on the road.
Jackson is expected to meet with Warriors general manager Larry Riley and coach Don Nelson before that practice, after missing the last two of those exhibition games through a team-imposed suspension for a sideline blowup with Nelson on Friday night in Los Angeles that was deemed “conduct detrimental” to the club.
Reached Sunday by ESPN.com, Nelson said he is still unwilling to go into detail about the exchange and would not expound on his plans for Jackson beyond confirming Tuesday’s planned sitdown.“We will talk,” Nelson said.
Both Jackson and Nelson seem to be wired the same way; slightly unorthodox, authority-averse figures that have managed to beat the odds in attaining success. Don Nelson even made Jackson his captain—spawning the nickname “Captain Jack” and prompting bemused looks from the NBA’s other 29 teams—a few years back, and kept him as one of the team captains even after this summer’s trade demand.
Clearly, the relationship’s seen better times. But with Jackson serving as the toxic lightning rod of dysfunction for an organization that’s quietly been in disarray for the past few seasons, it seems that things might just have reached a tipping point in San Francisco. Nelson’s weathered a lot with Jackson—including playoff ejections, crazy quotes, and openly pining for departed Baron Davis—but this might be too much to ask.
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