Tuesday, September 14th, 2010 at 10:50 am  |  81 responses

For Old Time’s Sake: Mark Jackson

Want to learn how to pass the rock? Study Mark Jackson. Born and bred in Brooklyn, NY, Jackson was a street legend, high school star, collegiate standout and first round draft pick. He was drafted by his hometown Knicks with the 18th overall pick in 1987 after lighting up the Big East at St. John’s. As a rookie Jackson averaged 13.6 pts, 10.6 assists and won ROY. With Ewing and Oakley by his side, Jackson helped make the Knicks a perennial playoff contender. In ’92 he was traded to the Clippers for Charles Smith and Doc Rivers and helped lead the Clips to a few playoff births in the 90s. He was later traded to the Pacers, teaming up with Reggie Miller to make one of the most lethal backcourts in the NBA. We all know of the epic Playoff battles between the Knicks and Pacers when beating New York meant everything to Jackson. They did trade him after all… Shout out to Kevin for sending in this dope mix and shout out to Ben Osborne, SLAM’s Editor-in-Chief and Mark Jackson’s #1 fan.

@Schneezy

For more old school videos, check out SLAMtv in the Media section.

Have an old school video you wants to see in FOTS? Send the video link to slamteam@harris-pub.com.

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  • http://google c_cantrell

    sounds good bro

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Jason Kidd is to Mark Jackson what a Ferrari is to a Miata.
    They both get you there, but Kidd gets you there in record setting time.
    Jason Kidd is a great defender, great rebounder, and his physical gifts make Mark Jackson look like a schoolboy.
    Sure, they are both intelligent and great passers, but that’s where things end. Sorry.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    JtTaylor
    I think Gary Payton is one of the most underrated. Tiny Archibald too, considering what he did after a major injury back in the dark ages of basketball. I think young folks don’t appreciate Walt Frazier that much either.
    Oh, and Sidney Montcrief, although he was more of a combo guard.
    That’s my list.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    How are we calling Kidd a “winner” and Payton not a “winner”?
    They both have been to the Finals. They both have been on teams that won a lot of games.
    Going head to head for most of their careers, Payton owned Kidd. Period. Kidd just stuck around at a higher level for longer, but in their primes, I’d rather have Payton.
    Plus, Payton made more improvements in his game, in my opinion and he was on a different plane defensively. But, I can see how folks like Kidd over Payton, I just don’t think it’s clearcut.
    Look at the numbers for who was making All-NBA first team when both of them were in their primes. It was a seesaw battle.

  • http://slamonline.com Ben Osborne

    Payton>Kidd>Mark… wait til you guys see thursday’s FOTS

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Payton made All-Nba nine times.
    Kidd made it six.

  • http://google c_cantrell

    ^Ben Osborne..
    give us a hint bro

  • http://www.stonesthrow.com Michael NZ

    Ben really does have an unhealthy obsession.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    mark jackson really had no hops, and questionable quicks. It’s amazing watching those highlights.

  • http://thephotoriot.com davidR

    was a little too young to really appreciate those knicks, but i enjoyed the pacers while mark was there. his post game is pretty damn good for a point

  • hammer

    Rod strickland > mark jackson

  • http://theurbangriot.com The Nupe

    Dude had talent and was fun to watch. Not in my top 10 pgs but he’s up there. On a different note, always helpful to be reminded that if you’re sound is turned up on your computer that the video may not be safe for work. An F-bomb here or N-bomb there can go somewhat unoticed in some songs, but not this one.

  • hammer

    Shout out 2 tom chambers and how he used mark as a stepladder. Top 10 in game dunks of all time!

  • The Philosopher

    His favorite player was Earvin.
    Can we tell?

  • JTaylor21

    @Hammer Rod Freaking Strickland better than MJackson, SHAMWOOOOOOW. Someone has being hanging out with the mountain people for too long.

  • IAMORANGE4EVER

    MOMMA THERE GOES THAT MAN!!! SMH

  • S_kemp

    that pacers team was one of my all time favourites….anyone know if he ever dunked in a game?

  • hammer

    Oh no diggity no doubt. Rod was a better penetrator,had a better offensive game,while still being able 2 finish n the top 6 players n assists for 7 consecutive yrs. A much much better finisher @ the rim mos def. Rod had this knack 2 get a shot off and get the and1 when it didn’t seem like he’d b able 2. If only he had been able 2 humble himself a bit and not b a malcontent throughout his career

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    THE MAGICIAN! “Get more stunts than my Action Jackson.”

  • tomtom

    i was going to comment on the article but instead can i just say its been cool to read allenp’s and others genuine intelligent debates. So often on here if u disagree with something its just a license to start verbal sparring. good stuff man.

  • hammer

    Jus a lil off topic but nba channel is now airing gm 5 of 04 finals. I 4got just how bad they made the lakers look n that game and the finals overall. Ouch! And speaking of mark,nba channel will b airing gm 4 of the 95 playoffs between magic and pacers 2 nite @ 9

  • http://www.kb24.com The Seed

    Mark Jackson is one of the greatest passers ever, I am glad that FOTS gave him some love. BOOK IT!!

  • The Philosopher

    Shout out @BostonBaller.

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    Co-sign The Seed.

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    ***”Got more stunts than my man Action Jackson.”

  • snasty10

    i went to a stones game one time when he was on the raptors, and i was sitting real close to the court, and some kids around the age of 22-25 were talking trash to him during a free throw, and he just turns around and goes “Aint it past your betime!” had the whole first ten rows hysterically laughing. sick passer to

  • RIGGS

    my man was half dominican, didnt even know that until i met his mother a long time ago

  • RIGGS

    i mean is*

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Derek Harper is also quite underrated.

  • Stan

    My judgement is tainted here as Jackson was my favorite PG.

    Was he the best PG? no. But no PG got more out of limited physical tools. And he is in my mind one of the top 10 at the position.

    Lets start with the negatives:

    Slow, bad hops, so so shot, bad man to man defender were all terms people used to describe his shortcomings. Yeah he was slow, and yeah his jumping was nothing to write home about. But he took his so so shot down the stretch when no one else wanted to shoot and he came through more than he didn’t (and 45 fg% and 33 3ptfg% isn’t all that bad). Also while he often got burned man to man against faster PGs he played smart team d (he is 20 all time in steals) and rebounded well for his position (17 career triple doubles)

    the positives:
    The man could flat out pass the rock. To him it wasn’t about getting the ball to the player… it was about getting the ball to the player so he could do the most damage. He knew if his teammate wanted the ball up high or down low, where he wanted to catch it, and how to lead him towards the basket. He was a showman and a leader. He had swagger and confidence (though this also was a weakness of his as shown by his comment about the Knicks acquiring Mo Cheeks and being asked if he could learn from the veteren Cheeks he answered we can learn from each other.)

    Like I said though, There aren’t many people who did more with limited physical tools than Jackson.

  • Carlos

    Gotta give respect, this guy was intelligent as they come. I grew up a Bulls fan (Jordan-Pippen era) and would get absolutely frustrated and confused as to how this chubby guy (come on, he looked portly in Indiana) was killing it on fast breaks. He never fkcd up a fast break. Never. Every time they had a fast break, and he had the ball, it was an automatic basket or 2 free throws. I loved him and Reggie killing the Knicks, though. His post moves on smaller guards was annoying but effective, kind of like a smaller version of Barkley and not as fast as Payton, but damn was it effective.

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