Mark Jackson (basketball)

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Mark A. Jackson (born April 1, 1965 in Brooklyn, New York) is a 6' 3" former professional basketball player who played point guard for the New York Knicks, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, Denver Nuggets, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, and Houston Rockets in the NBA in a career spanning from 1987 to 2004. He is currently an NBA analyst for The YES Network's New Jersey Nets games, ESPN and ABC.

Contents 1 Early years 2 NBA career 3 Post retirement 4 Personal life 5 Weblinks

[edit] Early years

Mark was regarded as one of the nation's elite point guards while attending Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn under Coach Patrick Quigley. Mark gained a reputation as a streetballer in New York and a college hoops star at St. John's University, and was made the 18th pick of the 1987 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks.

[edit] NBA career

Jackson teamed with Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, and John Starks to turn the Knicks into a prime playoff team in the early 1990s. However, during the time that he was on the Knicks, they were taken out of the playoffs each year by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.

Jackson had a steady career with the Knicks, averaging 13.6 points and 10.6 assists per game, earning him the 1988 Rookie of the Year award, the lowest overall draft pick ever to be so named. After the 1992 season, he was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, a trade that saw Charles Smith and Doc Rivers go to the Knicks. While with the Clippers, Jackson teamed with Danny Manning, Ron Harper and Coach Larry Brown to lead the Clippers to two of their few playoff appearances of the 1990s (a feat that would not be repeated until 1998 and 2006). Mark later was traded to the Indiana Pacers, where he teamed with Reggie Miller, Rik Smits, Antonio Davis, and Dale Davis to make the Indiana Pacers a strong contender. After a short stint with the Denver Nuggets, he returned to the Pacers. Jackson later played for the Utah Jazz before retiring as a member of the Houston Rockets in 2004.

He is currently ranked second in the NBA all-time assists list with 10,323. A recurring problem is that fans want him to be elected for the Basketball Hall of Fame but since he was traded a lot, he doesn't fit in with just one team (a problem also shared by Adrian Dantley). In addition, Jackson never achieved a great level individual success: despite being elected Rookie of the Year in 1988, he only followed in in his career with one All-Star appearance in 1989.

[edit] Post retirement

Jackson currently works as an analyst for New Jersey Nets telecasts on YES Network, most often teaming up with Marv Albert. As of the 2006 NBA Playoffs, he also works as an analyst for ABC.

As an analyst, he also does a weekly segment called "You're Better Than That", in which it focus on the NBA's best players in their not-so-great moments during the past week.

[edit] Personal life

Jackson is the older brother of And 1 streetballer Troy Jackson, better known as "Escalade".

[edit] Weblinks

Mark Jackson career stats