Mark Jackson Suggests He May Have Quit if He Wasn’t Fired

After getting fired on Tuesday, former Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson offered his side of the story. Jackson claims that he might’ve walked away from the job had the team not let him go. Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob, meanwhile, spoke to the local media about his and GM Bob Myers’ unpopular decision to can Jackson. Per the Dan Patrick Show and Mercury News:

Jackson weighed in with his reaction to yesterday’s events. “It was a great day,” Jackson said. “Things work out the way things are supposed to.”

But Jackson did address his frustration. “If we advance, do I still have a job?” Jackson said. “I’m not really sure. We both walked into the meeting and we were both frustrated. … Things had to change.”

Jackson said that he has no problem getting along with people. He “stays in his lane” in the sense that he reports to his boss and he only talks basketball with basketball people. “It doesn’t match a lot of things that are being said,” Jackson said. He said out of respect that he didn’t venture much into the business side, but he did everything he was asked to do in that arena.

Jackson said that if his work with the Church in LA and his family being there might have been a problem, but it wasn’t when he took the job. “It may have for them all of a sudden,” Jackson said. “It [wasn’t on] Day One.”

“There’s a way to do things,” Jackson said. “When people lie against you and make up stories … the evidence against it will be how you conduct yourself. … I’m going to take the high road. …. I’m not going to be disrespectful.”

-Q: Do you think Jackson had a bunker mentality and was that tough to deal with?

LACOB: “I think Mark in his next job probably needs to do a better job managing up and sideways, is one way to put it. Managing down, managing to his players, obviously a pretty good job. Most of his players seemed to really like playing for him. They played hard for him. Which is really important in the NBA.

I think if you asked him, I think he would realize–maybe give him some time to answer this–that he probably could do a little better job of managing up and sideways, is the way to put it.

But look, I’m not here to bash or be critical of him.

We could do some things better, too, right?

I will tell you that this idea that somehow me, I don’t get along with him or this is somehow between me… it’s not. First of all, I hardly really deal with him. It’s Bob. Bob is his counterpart in basketball operations.

I go see him every game–see him before and after every game. I don’t think I’ve ever had a heated exchange. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad exchange in any way with Mark.

So I think we get along really well. We may have some differences in philosophy per se, but I think we get along well. And I think Bob can probably say the same thing for the most part.

It’s not like there was a bad relationship here.”