Background and career
James Arthur Jackson (born October 14, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player. Over his 14 National Basketball Association (NBA) seasons, Jackson was on the active roster of a then-record 12 different NBA teams. He is currently a basketball analyst for Fox Sports, Turner Sports and the Los Angeles Clippers on Bally Sports West, having previously worked for the Big Ten Network. Jim Jackson also works as an analyst for the NBA Playoffs on NBATV.
Jackson was a 6-foot-6-inch (198 cm), 220-pound (100 kg) shooting guard who started all four years at Macomber High School in Toledo, Ohio. The former McDonald's All American led Macomber to the 1989 Division I state championship over Cleveland St. Joseph. He was high school teammates with former NFL safety Myron Bell.
Jackson was a member of the Ohio State Buckeyes. He instantly contributed, starting as a freshman for the 1989–90 season and averaging 16.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting 49.9% from the field. He played two more seasons through the 1991–92 season, earning consensus First Team All American honors in 1991 and 1992 UPI college basketball, the UPI player of the year, and winning the Big Ten Championship in 1992. Jackson's number (22) was retired at Ohio State in February 2001.
Jackson skipped his final year of college eligibility and was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks with the fourth overall pick of the 1992 NBA draft after his junior season at OSU. Jackson's rookie year was abbreviated due to a lengthy contract dispute where he held out for most of the season. As a result, he appeared in only 28 games in his first season in the league. He started in all 82 games the following season, averaging 19.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists in 37.4 minutes per game. With the drafting of Jamal Mashburn and Jason Kidd in the following two seasons, the trio was nicknamed the "Three J's". During the 1994–95 season, Jackson averaged 25.7 points and 5.1 rebounds, finishing fifth in the NBA in scoring. However, he suffered an ankle injury after 51 games that year. He came back to average 19.6 points in 1995–96. However, controversy surrounded the Mavericks as a rift between Jason Kidd and Jackson emerged; unsubstantiated rumors pointed to a love triangle between Kidd, Jackson, and singer Toni Braxton. In the middle of the 1996–97 season, Jackson was traded to the New Jersey Nets along with Sam Cassell, Eric Montross, George McCloud, and Chris Gatling for Shawn Bradley, Ed O'Bannon, Robert Pack, and Khalid Reeves.
Jackson played and started in only 31 games with the Nets to finish the 1996–97 season averaging 16.5 points and 5.9 rebounds per game with them. The following offseason, the Nets coveted a college prospect, forward Keith Van Horn out of Utah. In a bidding war with the Chicago Bulls among other teams, they traded Jackson along with Eric Montross and their two first-round picks, Tim Thomas and Anthony Parker, to the Philadelphia 76ers for Michael Cage, Don MacLean, Lucious Harris, and the rights to Van Horn, the second overall pick in the 1997 draft.
Jackson played in 48 games for the 76ers in the 1997–98 season averaging 13.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game with decreased minutes from previous seasons. Jackson was reported to be unhappy with his reduced role and shooting while playing with Allen Iverson, who was viewed as the 76ers' franchise player. In the middle of the 1997–98 season, the 76ers traded Jackson along with Clarence Weatherspoon to the Golden State Warriors for Joe Smith and Brian Shaw. All four players were free agents at the end of the season, with the 76ers fearing an inability to re-sign Jackson and the Warriors fearing an inability to re-sign Smith.
