Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry, April 21, 2022, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)/Mark Jackson in Oakland, Calif., June 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)/Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, April 2, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Mark Jackson knows more than a thing or two about basketball. After all, he was a star college player for St. John’s University in New York City before going pro for the National Basketball Association (NBA). From 1987 to 2004, he played for the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, and Houston Rockets. When he retired, he covered basketball as a sports analyst for ESPN and ABC. He also worked as an analyst for The YES Network’s New Jersey Nets games.
Then in 2011, he went back to the court, this time as a coach. He was head coach for San Francisco’s Golden State Warriors. He coached the team for three seasons but was fired in 2014 despite leading the Warriors to consecutive playoff appearances for the first time in over 20 years. After that it seemed hard for Jackson to land another coaching gig, even though any credit him as being the chief architect of the team’s success.
Today, the team is coached by Steve Kerr. Jackson went on to return to ESPN as a game analyst after signing a multiyear agreement in 2014. On May 14, 2014, Kerr reached a deal to become the head coach for the Golden State Warriors, succeeding Jackson in a five-year $25 million contract.
Here are five things to never forget about Jackson’s time with the Warriors.
According to Jackson, the Warriors‘ “narrative” kept him from a second coaching chance. The team fired him after the 2013-14 season. “But Jackson’s Golden State run isn’t remembered for the things he did right. It’s remembered for the things he did wrong,” CBS Sports reported.
There was feedback that Jackson couldn’t get along with ownership or anyone in the Golden State front office. But most of all, the complaint was that the ordained minister “forced” his religious beliefs on players.
But in an interview with Rich Kleiman’s “Boardroom: Out of Office” podcast, Jackson said he believed the “narrative” around his Warriors’ tenure cost him the second coaching job.
“When you make a statement and say I force folks to come to church — are you kidding me? What sense does that make?” Jackson said. “Never in my life have I forced people to go to church.”
Once when star Warriors player Stephen Curry had an ankle injury, Jackson claimed it was prayer and “magic” anointed oil that healed him, even though Curry had the ankle surgically repaired.
NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas said he believed Jackson laid a championship foundation for Golden State–and changed the sport in the process.
“The guy who doesn’t get credit for changing the game, and this so-called evolution of the game, his name would be Coach Mark Jackson,” Thomas said on the “All the “Smoke” podcast, CBS Sports reported. “Now let me tell you why Mark Jackson changed the game. Mark Jackson saw a guy by the name of Steph Curry, and a guy by the name of Klay Thompson, and Mark Jackson, as a coach, made it acceptable, he made it acceptable, for Steph Curry and Klay to shoot from that range.
“People always shot from that range,” Thomas continued. “They just didn’t do it as part of their offensive schemes. Mark Jackson, solely, accepted Steph and Klay shooting from that distance, from that range, during crucial parts of the game.”
Before Jackson was hired as head coach in 2011, Golden State had recorded just two winning seasons and one playoff appearance between 1994 and 2012. Jackson took the Warriors to the Western Conference semi-finals with players such as Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes, and Festus Ezeli.
During Jackson’s tenure, the team more than doubled their win total from the previous season.
In the 2013-14 season, they had a 10-game winning streak that included six straight road wins. They finished the regular season with 51 victories, a four-win improvement over the previous season and the team’s highest total in 22 years, The Guardian reported. But with player Andrew Bogut having a broken leg toward the end of the season, the Warriors suffered a Game 7 elimination to the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the playoffs.
Despite his successful coaching, Jackson’s strong religious beliefs rubbed many in the league the wrong way, especially for a team based in the liberal Bay Area. Reportedly, Jackson’s views on sexuality put him at odds with the team’s then-president, Rick Welts, who is gay, The Guardian reported.
Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry in the second half of Game 3 of an NBA basketball first-round Western Conference playoff series, April 21, 2022, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)/Mark Jackson before Game 4 of basketball’s NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors in Oakland, Calif., June 7, 2019. ABC/ESPN NBA analyst Jackson credits faith, confidence and longtime friendships with Van Gundy and Mike Breen as the main catalysts for his longevity and why he is working his 12th NBA Finals. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)/Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr in the second half of an NBA basketball game, April 2, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
