Mark Jackson, one of the top candidates in Sacramento’s search for a new head coach, went to the FBI in 2012 after an extramarital affair led to an extortion scandal involving a stripper, her accomplice and some nude photographs.
Two years later, the Golden State Warriors fired Jackson following a 51-win season, with team owner Joe Lacob later saying Jackson was disliked by everyone in the organization. Critics have pointed to some of Jackson’s religious practices with strong intimations regarding his views on issues such as gay marriage and homosexuality.
Jackson’s candidacy in the Kings’ coaching search has been controversial from the start, but there is a new level of consternation in Sacramento amid reports that Jackson has emerged as team owner Vivek Ranadive’s top choice.
Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer and veteran NBA correspondent Marc Stein have reported Jackson is Ranadive’s preferred candidate. Fischer went so far as to say Jackson “appears to be the front-runner and Kings owner Vivek Ranadive’s favorite candidate.”
A league source told The Sacramento Bee the Kings are running a fair and equitable search process in which each candidate has an equal opportunity to win the job. Ranadive did not participate in the first round of virtual interviews when reports of his affinity for Jackson first surfaced, but Ranadive joined the process for in-person interviews this week.
Steve Clifford, a Brooklyn Nets coaching consultant and former head coach of the Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets, was in Sacramento earlier this week. Jackson was in town Tuesday. Warriors assistant Mike Brown, who has head coaching experience with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers, is expected to visit the Kings over the next couple of days.
The Kings chose three defensive-minded coaching finalists from their initial list of seven candidates, which included Milwaukee Bucks assists Darvin Ham and Charles Lee, Boston Celtics assistant Will Hardy and veteran coach Mike D’Antoni. Jackson was quickly singled out as the most polarizing figure on Sacramento’s list when the Kings’ candidates were revealed 10 days ago.
Jackson, 57, is best known for his work as an NBA game analyst for the lead broadcast crew on ESPN and ABC. Working alongside play-by-play man Mike Breem and former coach Jeff Van Gundy, Jackson coined the popular catch phrase, “Mama, there goes that man.”
Jackson came up as a playground legend out of Queens, New York, where he became one of the nation’s best high school point guards before going on to star at St. John’s. Jackson was the NCAA assist leader in 1986, Big East Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 1987 and a two-time First Team All-Big East selection.
The New York Knicks selected Jackson with the No. 18 pick in the 1987 NBA draft. Despite his modest draft position, Jackson was named NBA Rookie of the Year after averaging 13.6 points, 10.6 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 2.5 steals in his first season with the Knicks.
Jackson spent a total of seven seasons with the Knicks over the course of a 17-year playing career. He spent six seasons with the Indiana Pacers and two with the Los Angeles Clippers. He also had brief stints with the Utah Jazz, Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets.
Jackson led the NBA in assists in 1997 and was named an All-Star in 1989. He finished his career with 12,489 points, 4,963 rebounds and 10,334 assists. He is fifth all-time in the NBA in assists, trailing only John Stockton, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul and Steve Nash. He ranks ahead of luminous stars such as Magic Johnson, LeBron James, Oscar Robertson, Isiah Thomas and Gary Payton.
Jackson first went into broadcasting after retiring in 2004. He got his first and only coaching job in 2011, when the Warriors, under new ownership with Lacob and Peter Guber, hired him as their head coach.
The first season was a struggle. Golden State went 23-43 during the lockout shortened 2011-12 season, but then Jackson made good on his promise to improve the team’s defense and make the Warriors a playoff contender. They went 47-35 in 2012-13, advancing to the Western Conference semifinals in their first playoff appearance since 2007.
The Warriors improved to 51-31 in 2013-14, their first 50-win season in two decades, but they were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round, falling in seven games to the Clippers. Jackson was fired after compiling a record of 121-109 (.526) over three seasons.
The Warriors thanked Jackson for helping them become a playoff team, but they brought in Steve Kerr to replace him. They said they felt they needed someone else to help them win an NBA championship, a feat they achieved the following season.
Lacob had more to say in December 2014 when he spoke at a luncheon for venture capitalists.
“A lot of people on the outside couldn’t understand it when we (fired Jackson),” Lacob said. “Part of it was that he couldn’t get along with anybody else in the organization. And look, he did a great job, and I’ll always compliment him in many respects, but you can’t have 200 people in the organization not like you.”
Some of Jackson’s former players, including Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala, have spoken out on his behalf, saying Jackson was a good coach who deserves another opportunity. Iguodala once said he believed Jackson, a licensed Christian minister, was being blackballed by NBA teams because of his religious beliefs and his opposition to gay marriage. Iguodala said Jackson sometimes livestreamed sermons from the team facility. Iguodala, who called Jackson the “ultimate players coach,” also noted that former Warriors president Rick Welts is gay, saying that created conflict within the organization.
“One particular issue was his views on gender or marriage or what the Bible says on your sexuality,” Iguodala told The Breakfast Club, a syndicated radio show based in New York. “Our head of our business (Welts) is celebrated as one of the top execs in sports on the business side, and he’s gay, so there was conflicts with that that was widespread.”
Jackson has denied holding religious services at the team facility and said he has never publicly expressed his views on gay marriage. These are questions Jackson might have been asked to address in talks with the Kings.
Bleacher Report, citing sources with knowledge of the situation, reported Brown is believed to be the top choice of McNair and his staff, but Ranadive has been fond of Jackson since his days as a minority owner with the Warriors.
“Jackson has long been a darling of Ranadive, who was vice chairman of Golden State when Jackson piloted the upstart playoff contender in the early stages of the Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green era,” Fischer wrote. “In 2020, Ranadive urged the Sacramento front office to consider Jackson for the associate head coach position that went to (Alvin) Gentry.”
