The Curious Case Of Reggie Jackson

Reggie Jackson played his first game wearing a Detroit Pistons jersey on February 22 against the Washington Wizards. He and his new teammates walked away with a resounding win that night, 106-89. It was a promising start for a player who finally realized his dream of landing a starting gig in the NBA. The camera caught Jackson battling a case of nerves by showing the viewing audience his sideline vomiting after going 0-for-8 in the first half. Once he settled down, he ended up with 17 points, five assists and five rebounds. Hope was restored for the new starting point guard.

However, the new Jackson-led Pistons lost their next 10 games. They are now 3-11 since the Jackson trade with a current record of 25-44. This puts them in 12th place in the Eastern Conference and dead last in the Central Division.

In 14 starts with the Pistons, Jackson has averaged 15.2 points, 8.1 assists and 4.5 rebounds in 30.9 minutes. Always a solid free-throw shooter, he’s posting a career-high 96.4 percent at the foul line. His two-point field goal attempts have never been higher (12.4), but his efficiency hasn’t been this low (41.6 percent) since his rookie season. His three-point shooting remains unimpressive at one per game at 29.2 percent. Jackson is averaging a career-high turnover rate of 3.1 per game, which surely correlates to his career-high Usage Percentage of 28.2 in Detroit. His 15.8 Player Efficiency Rating (PER) is at a career-high as well.

Despite the Pistons’ continued losing record since acquiring him from the Oklahoma City Thunder at the February 19 trade deadline in a three-team deal, Jackson has been featured prominently in basketball news of late because of a couple individual stand-out performances.

He recorded his first career triple-double (11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists) in last week’s loss to the East’s 14th-ranked Philadelphia 76ers. And he logged a career-high 20 assists the day before in a win versus the West’s second-ranked Memphis Grizzlies. These particular games followed a much-discussed game involving a fourth quarter benching and pleas from his teammates and coach to stop putting so much pressure on himself and to just play his game.

In the same vein as any other competitive player, Jackson speaks about goals of winning an NBA championship, but he’s very focused on attaining personal goals. Recently he talked about the influence of his new coach, Stan Van Gundy, and how he figures to affect his game.

“I think he can only help my game expand that much further and help me on this journey to be one of the best point guards ever,” said Jackson. “Him finding me and choosing me to come to this team has been a great match.”

This begs the question: Is Jackson solely devoted to reaching his individual goals, or is he a team-first player now that he finally has a starting role?

Jackson is one of the few players who openly declared before his NBA debut that he wants to be known as one of the greats to ever play the game. He was raised to believe this and fully accepts that it’s his destiny. After a successful three-year run with Boston College (18.2 ppg, 4.5 apg, 4.3 rpg in his junior year), the Thunder selected Jackson with the 24th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.

This writer was present when Jackson first met Oklahoma City media members wherein he shared his long-held goal of reaching Michael Jordan-level of greatness and fame on the basketball court. These simple words, from a wide-eyed rookie, were met with a great deal of bemusement, but we know now he was deadly serious. It’s hard to fault someone who aims for eminence in their field, but when it begins to intersect with reality, problems develop. And the reality was that Jackson would be delegated to a backup role as long as point guard extraordinaire Russell Westbrook remained on the Thunder roster and was healthy. The situation seemed to mirror the Thunder’s James Harden Experience, except Harden, named the league’s Sixth Man of the Year in 2011-12, was never so publicly open about his desire to start.

Quiet in the first two seasons (averaged 4.2 ppg, 1.7 apg in 12.7 minutes), Jackson broke out in his third year (13.1 ppg, 4.1 apg in 28.5 minutes) yet, overall, he plateaued in 2014-15 (13.2 ppg, 5.0 apg in 28.6 minutes). However, Jackson shone as a Thunder starter early in the year when Westbrook was sidelined, logging 17.5 points and 7.8 assists.

By having no interest in keeping his leading second unit role on a contending team, and not hiding it, he had to move on from the Thunder. Jackson had become such a distraction in Oklahoma City – we’ll probably never know the true extent of discord he caused among his teammates – that it was a win for everyone when he was traded to Detroit. Jackson admitted to shedding tears of joy.

So the window has opened for Jackson, 24, to reveal if he has any chance of climbing to that next level. This stint may be more important than he realizes. The next chapters of his story are unwritten, and there are multiple directions the storyline could go.

To start with, Jackson will be a restricted free agent this summer. While Van Gundy has pledged allegiance to Jackson and indicated his tenure in Detroit is no mere try-out, are they prepared to match offer sheets? Many figure Jackson will want a max deal. The Pistons will be in a position to match such offers, and his performance down the stretch will seal it either way.

Secondly, where does the Jackson acquisition leave the Pistons’ injured starting point guard, Brandon Jennings? He was playing the best basketball of his career, averaging 15.4 points, 6.6 assists, 1.9 three-pointers and 1.1 steals in 41 starts, before his season-ending injury (ruptured Achilles tendon) in January. Jennings’ contract expires after next season, so will they employ a 1-2 punch with both in the backcourt this coming season, or will they move Jennings or even Jackson?

And lastly, will Jackson find that greatness and contentment he’s looking for in this sport?

“What motivates me each and every day to play the game is to just have fun,” Jackson said shortly after arriving in Detroit.

Having fun in your profession is great – we should all be so fortunate – but it doesn’t necessarily equate to reaching legend status. This is a results-oriented business; Jackson will continue to be scrutinized by many and measured by the number of consistent team wins he pulls in for the Pistons.