Mark Jackson (basketball) - Biography - NBA Career

NBA Career

Jackson was made the 18th pick of the 1987 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks. He teamed with Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley to turn the Knicks into a prime playoff team in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, before the Knicks peaked and became regular playoff contenders, he was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in 1992.

Jackson had a steady career with the Knicks, most notably under coach Rick Pitino, averaging 13.6 points and 10.6 assists per game in his rookie season, earning him the 1988 Rookie of the Year award, the lowest overall draft pick to win the award since Woody Sauldsberry in 1958. He is the only non-lottery pick to have won the award since the introduction of the system in 1985.

In 1989, Jackson had another promising season for the Knicks, teaming with Ewing to lead them to the Atlantic Division title and the number three seed in the east (behind the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers), and making his lone All-Star Game appearance. After sweeping Charles Barkley's Philadelphia team in the opening round, the Knicks faced the upstart Chicago Bulls, led by Michael Jordan, in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Noteworthy in the series was near the end of game two, where Jackson en route to a fast break layup in the fourth quarter looked back and stuck out his tongue at Jordan before finishing the layup; Jordan responded with a 40+ PPG average the remainder of the series, and led Chicago to a 4-2 series victory. Following a contract extension prior to the 1990 season, Jackson began to lose his All-Star form; the loss of Pitino (who left to coach the University of Kentucky) and starting the season out of shape were key factors. Consequently, he began to face stiff competition from backup guard Maurice Cheeks, to the point where in their decisive first round game five against Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson and the Boston Celtics at the Boston Garden, Knick coach Stu Jackson decided to bench Mark Jackson for the entire game; New York went on to defeat Boston to advance to the second round, where they lost to the eventual champion Detroit Pistons in five games.

After the 1991-92 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 head 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 1997 and 2006).

Jackson later was traded to the Indiana Pacers for point guard Pooh Richardson, where he teamed with Reggie Miller, Rik Smits, Antonio Davis and Dale Davis for six seasons to make the Indiana Pacers a strong contender. Jackson was traded to the Denver Nuggets before the 1996–97 NBA season started for Jalen Rose. This trade was a disaster for the Pacers, as the Pacers fell in 10th place in the East halfway through the season and out of the playoff race. Feeling the heat, Pacers GM Donnie Walsh re-traded for Jackson at the deadline, giving up Vincent Askew, Eddie Johnson and a couple of 2nd round picks. The return of Jackson sparked the Pacers, but they still missed the playoffs for the only time in the last decade and a half. Jackson would eventually appear in his only NBA Finals as the Pacers' starting point guard in 2000, when they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games.

Jackson would leave the Pacers that offseason for the Toronto Raptors, who needed a floor general and had extra money to spend with the departure of Tracy McGrady earlier that offseason. Jackson would only play 54 games for the Raptors before being traded at the deadline back to the Knicks. The return was short lived, as the Knicks were knocked out of the playoffs by the Raptors.

In the offseason, he was involved in a trade back to the Nuggets, where he was immediately waived. Jackson played for the Utah Jazz for the 02-03 season as John Stockton's backup. It was this season that Jackson moved into second place on the list of all time assists leaders behind his teammate Stockton. Jackson would play every single game that season without starting one before moving on as a member of the Houston Rockets in 2004. Jackson only played in 42 games as a Rocket and, experiencing a large drop off in skills, finished his career at season's end.

He is currently ranked 13th on the NBA all-time games list (1,296), 26th on the all-time minutes played list (39,121), 77th on the all-time three-point field goals made list (734), 65th on the all-time three-point field goal attempts list (2,213), 3rd on the all-time assists list (10,323) and 23rd on the all-time steals list (1,608). Jackson never achieved great individual success; despite winning Rookie of the Year in 1988, he only made one All-Star appearance in his career (1989).

Jackson is also notable for prompting an NBA rule change. In response to Jackson's penchant for backing down opposing point guards in the post for 15 or more seconds at a time, the league instituted the Five-second rule (basketball), sometimes referred to as the "Mark Jackson Rule," prohibiting an offensive player from dribbling with his back to the basket for more than 5 consecutive seconds when below the free throw line.

Jackson is also known around the NBA for perfecting as well as increasing popularity of the "tear drop" shot, which he used often to shoot over much larger NBA defenders. The basketball shooting technique called "tear drop" is also referred to as the floater. Both of them are very descriptive names in that the basketball shot seems to "float" over the defender and drop into the hoop so lightly as if it were a drop of tears. It is an alternate basketball shooting move in a lay up where you take the step-and-a-half early and while jumping forward, you shoot the basketball over your defender before he jumps.