Saying that Stephen Jackson didn’t enjoy his brief time in Milwaukee a season ago would be an understatement.
He appeared in just 26 games, before a falling out with Bucks head coach Scott Skiles had him riding the bench and not traveling with the team while a trade to send him out of town was being actively pursued.
With his San Antonio Spurs rolling into town on Wednesday, Jackson was asked to revisit the reasons for his discontent.
From Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News:“I just wanted to be around a positive organization that’s used to winning and plays the game the right way,” Jackson says now. “Milwaukee, they’re not used to winning. I just wasn’t going to go for it at the end of my career.”
“It just wasn’t a good situation for me,” said Jackson, who still keeps in touch with former Bucks teammates Drew Gooden and Brandon Jennings. “I didn’t want to be a part of no rebuilding team.”
The old guy in me says that Jackson, then in his 12th NBA season, should have handled this more professionally, and could have used the opportunity to mentor some of the younger players and help create the winning attitude and atmosphere he claimed was missing.
Then again, you can’t fault the guy for being honest in wanting to play for a winner at this late stage of his career -- even if the way he went about leaving might not have been the most amicable for both parties.
