It’s hard to recall a time when a Mark Jackson story comes out that makes you think, “Ah, yes, that is a cool, normal guy.”
The former Warriors head coach whiffed on the Sacramento Kings job, despite owner Vivek Ranadive’s reported desire to hire him. It should tell you enough that every Kings fan collectively breathed a sigh of relief when it was announced Warriors assistant Mike Brown would take the job instead.
As usual, when Jackson’s name comes up for a head coaching position and every fan of that team screams, “No!” it’s worth reminding why the reaction is so fierce despite his on-court success with the Warriors.
It’s because everything about Jackson outside of the results was concerning, to put it lightly. Former ESPN and The Athletic writer Ethan Strauss reported on Tuesday that a story on Jackson was once shut down at ESPN because it was “too incendiary.”
There were myriad accusations levied at Jackson in the story, per Strauss, all listed below:
Jackson is painted as being divisive and accusing staff members as “being influenced by the devil” and explicitly accusing openly gay assistant Jason Collins and team president Rick Welts as being “penis grabbers” who were “going to hell.”
Strauss declines to name the writer of the story but says the article was not rejected due to any factual inaccuracies. Read the full article here.