Mark Jackson Explains Relationship With Alleged Major Drug Dealer


Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson moonlights as a pastor, and says that his relationship with a man that law enforcement officials claim is a drug kingpin, is based strictly on spirituality. From the San Fran Chronicle: “Warren Braithwaite’s drug arrest last month led to a Star magazine article that discussed his relationship with Jackson. ‘At the end of the day, Brother Warren doesn’t have a relationship with Mark Jackson, the head coach of the Golden State Warriors,’ Jackson said in a phone interview Wednesday. ‘He wouldn’t say, ‘Mark Jackson, my friend’ or ‘Mark Jackson, my coach.’ ‘He would say, ‘Pastor Mark, my spiritual father.’ Jackson and his wife, Desiree, pastor True Love Worship Center International, a nondenominational church with about 300 members in Van Nuys. Braithwaite is an usher there … ‘In fairness to me, as a pastor, I’m going to be linked to drug dealers, drug addicts, liars and fornicators,’ Jackson said. ‘The church is a place for sick people to be healed. I’m going to help them, but I’m not going to co-sign on their troubles.’ Braithwaite, who also has ties to actor/singer Jamie Foxx, is being accused of masterminding a multimillion-dollar international drug cartel, according to Star. The report says Braithwaite was arrested June 14 in a five-state DEA sting that dismantled a drug ring responsible for the distribution of up to 10,000 pounds of marijuana – worth more than $8 million. He was booked at the Maricopa County (Ariz.) Jail on June 23 and pleaded not guilty to all charges June 29.”