It’s crazy to see that many current and former assistants or players are getting hired for coaching vacancies, while others like Mark Jackson are still waiting to get another chance to coach in the NBA.
Jackson put together the building block of the Golden State Warriors’ dynasty before Steve Kerr took over and took them to a whole new level. They obviously needed a change but it’s hard to blame Jackson for their shortcomings in the playoffs.
That’s why former Warriors player Al Harrington told Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson that he believes that Jackson is being blackballed by the NBA because he should have gotten another shot at a head coaching gig already:
“Obviously he’s been blackballed,” Harrington said. “It’s just no way around it. I’m not sure who it was, but somewhere in that organization and I think Jerry West was there and I’m sure he has a lot of clout within sports period and I’m not saying it’s him but somebody blackballed him. Because it just doesn’t make sense because he actually was a good coach, you know, there’s coaches that’s gotten situations and coached for three years and won you know, 35 games, 40 games, and they’re still resurfacing either as an assistant coach or as another head coach,” the former Warriors player concluded.
Even though it may seem far-fetched, Harrington could have a point here. Jackson has rubbed some people the wrong way with his comments throughout his career, so perhaps this is personal.
Then again, no one can deny that he’s a great player development coach and that he’s a bonafide tactician that should at least be on a rebuilding team’s shortlist. Yet, he’s not even getting interviews, while not-so-known assistants are leading the race to land a full-time coaching job.
Maybe we’ll never know the truth behind this, but it’s definitely something to think about.
