Maybe ESPN should find, I don’t know, literally anyone else on the planet than the former Golden State head coach to call Warriors games. Mark Jackson had more strange comments about a member of the Warriors on Friday, adding to a laundry list of weird things he’s sad about the team since being fired.
Mark Jackson sounds really weird when he says things about the Warriors
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
His Christmas Day commentary, though perhaps not his hottest take, was still silly and unneeded:
Steph Curry’s great. Steph Curry’s the MVP. He’s a champion. Understand what I’m saying when I say this. To a degree, he’s hurting the game. And what I mean by that is that I go into these high school gyms, I watch these kids, and the first thing they do is they run to the 3-point line. You are not Steph Curry. Work on the other aspects of the game. People think that he’s just a knock-down shooter.
If you’re willing to sift through the garbage assortment of words Jackson threw together here, you can *almost* get the point he’s trying to make. Thing is though, the point is largely wrong and has been made about every great player throughout history. I mean, lord knows no child has ever hucked up a brick from 40-feet out while shouting “KOBE!” right? That’s definitely a new phenomenon that has only developed because of Steph.
Not exactly clear either how Steph being good at something kids can practice as opposed to being just big and strong is an issue.
They used to complain that American kids didn't practice shooting enough. Now they shoot too much? Can't win.
— Tom Ziller (@teamziller) December 26, 2015 99.9% of high school players won't be any type of NBA player. At least if they practice shooting like Steph they'll be useful at the Y.
— Tom Ziller (@teamziller) December 26, 2015 Draymond Green echoed this sentiment, per Yahoo!
“It’s good for kids to think they can be Steph because it gives them realistic hope.”
Andrew Bogut, another of Jackson’s former players, was not quite as diplomatic with his response to Jackson’s asinine comments:
“Anything he says, you can take that with a grain of salt, and you can quote me on that.”
So at best, Mark Jackson is a television analyst who makes questionable points and does not express them all that well. At worst, he’s a spurned ex-lover still stalking his ex’s Facebook, and talking crap about her to his friends and family.
Either way, maybe he shouldn’t be calling Warriors games, because he’s taking a lot of fun out of the most fun thing in basketball.
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