Jackson played for St. John's in college and played so well that he entered the NBA draft and was picked with the 18th pick by the New York Knicks. That wasn't a surprise because he averaged 18.9 ppg and 6.4 apg in his final season at St. John's. In New York he started 80 of the 82 games and averaged a double-double, 13.6 ppg and 10.6 apg, and he earned the Rookie of the Year award. That would be his best year in his career but all the other years weren't too bad either. He has played on a high level consistently throughout his career earning him one all-star appearance and a soon-to-be second place in all-time assists. He played his first five seasons for the Knicks, then went to the Clippers but after two seasons he went to Indiana. In the next seven years he would play in Indiana with the exception of one year in which he played for Denver. After those seven years he went to Toronto before returning to the Knicks after one season. After two seasons with the Knicks he was traded to Denver but was waived and he signed with the Utah Jazz soon afterwards.
It wasn't a surprise he only played one season for the Raptors. Jackson, who likes to play in a structured offense, was angry at his teammates. "Guys are either going to have to learn the offence or sit down and watch, because it's killing us." point guard Mark Jackson said following the Raptors' dismal 103-79 loss to the Charlotte Hornets. "Our offence is not brain surgery. We're running the same plays every team runs, so we should know it. My son would know it -- just give me a day with him." Oh my, how happy he must be to come to the Jazz. He also achieved a milestone with the Raptors. He passed Isiah Thomas on the NBA career assists list to become fourth. "A milestone like this epitomizes unselfishness, and I'm truly honored," Jackson said. "The guy I just passed is one of the guys I really watched as youngster, and learned from. Magic, Stockton, Oscar and Isiah are one name guys that you can just say their initials or their first names and it means something," Jackson continued. "I'm truly honored to be in that class. I have to shake my head when I think about it. I realize that I'm not as talented as those guys, but it just shows that God has put his hand on my life, and I'm truly blessed." Coach Lenny Wilkens praised Jackson for his unselfishness. "It shows his abilities as a point guard," Wilkens said. "Everybody wants to be on the shooting side of the ball, and you don't always look for the assist." Antawn Jamison, who played against Jackson the day he reached that milestone, also praised him. "He's a true professional, and that's how guys should carry themselves on and off the court," Jamison said. "You understand why he just broke a record. He's unselfish." The reason of his unselfishness? "I wasn't as gifted athletically as the majority of the other guys in quickness and jumping ability," Jackson said in an interview. "So at a very early age I had to out-think (others) and I had to use my mind as far as the game was concerned. I'm still doing the same things I did when I was 12 years old." That's right, he still out thinks his opponents. He still finds ways to give the ball to teammates who can score even though he isn't the quickest guy on the court. And teammates give him credit for that. "He's doing a tremendous job of taking care of the ball, distributing the ball and getting the open guy good shots," center Rik Smits said of Jackson. And we hope Jackson can do the same thing for the Jazz.
Jacksons game doesn't only consist of passing the ball. He might not be as athletic as Steve Francis and not as quick as a young Tim Hardaway but he is bigger than both and he uses his height to his advantage as he likes to post-up. He is one of the best post-up point guards but is also capable of hitting the outside shot and running the half-court offense. What he lacks in athleticism, quickness and speed he makes up for with his strength and intelligence. Because he is capable of running the half-court offense and because he is very intelligent he is the perfect leader as he can also keep his head cool in tough situations. As said, Jackson likes to post up. David DuPree of the USA Today once described Jackson's go-to move as followed: "Backing his man down as low as he can and shooting a semi-turnaround half jump shot, half hook." Hey, the Jazz now even have a new low-post player.
So why the Jazz? One of the advantages of playing for the Jazz is not having to guard John Stockton and Karl Malone. "It was a nightmare guarding either one," Jackson said. "You say 'dirty' because you're tired of them screening and picking and picking you apart. It really is a compliment. Guys do not want to face them." Not one of the advantages is the peace and quiet in the Salt Lake City area as Jackson says he is more of a city guy. A New York, city guy. "I'm a New York City guy. I could never see myself living in Utah and playing for the Jazz. It's awful strange," Jackson said. "There's going to be a lot of people quite amused at the sight of me in a Jazz uniform." But still he is glad to be with Utah because now he isn't with Denver anymore. "I knew early on it wouldn't be an ideal situation for me in Denver," he said. "I wanted to be in position to win. No knock to [the Nuggets], but who knows what they're going to do?" In an other interview he said the same thing. "I didn't want to go to a situation where a team was in a rehabilitating situation," he said. "I wanted to be in a situation where a team had a shot to win, and, more importantly, winning and winning the right way, with a bunch of pros, a bunch of guys that do it the right way, and a first-rate organization with a great coach." And he now is in a position to win because the other guys on the team also want to win, and that's why they are so happy to have Jackson on the team. "He reminds me a whole lot of Stock," Malone said with reference to 40-year-old Jazz starter John Stockton, the NBA's career assists and steals leader. "He thinks about his teammates first and himself second, but you have to play him." Stockton is also happy with his new back-up. "One thing he's done throughout his career," Stockton said, "is he's made other guys better - and that always raises an eyebrow. You have to guard other guys differently knowing he's on the floor, and he can make a pass."
So everybody is glad to have Jackson and Jackson is glad to be here. But is he really going to be that important? In Utah they are already yelling second-round play-offs while outside of Utah they are screaming that the Jazz only got older, not better. And the guys outside of Utah are partially correct. Jackson is old and he isn't going to be a great defender. As a matter of fact, he is slowing down a bit and although you can certainly outsmarten a guy when you have the ball on the offensive end, you can't do that on the defensive end. Yes there are tricks but you can't hide quickness as much on defense as you can on offense, as we saw with Hornacek later in his career. A commentator once asked the question that how could it be that when Hornacek has the ball he looked so much faster and better than without it on the defensive end. Simple, you can't hide on defense what you can hide on offense. And that is going to be the same way with Jackson. Not that he will be totally unable to defend someone but the young and quick point guards, and there are a lot of them these days, will blow by him several times during a game.
But he will make that up on the offensive end. Jackson can still pass, post-up and lead a team and still has the qualities to be a starter. He will now most likely lead the second unit and join Stockton in the back-court on a few occasions and it is going to be exciting to see the Jazz not getting out-played without Stockton. In the past years the Jazz offense didn't go the way it should go when Stockton was off the court. John Crotty last year was arguably the best back-up the Jazz ever had for John Stockton before the signing of Jackson. Jackson can run the offense and is capable of keeping the team at a high level during Stockton's absence. He can shoot, find the open man and post-up and that is what the Jazz needed. And above all, he can pass. The Jazz now probably have two of the top 5 best passing point guards and that is what the Jazz wanted. Because when the Jazz pass like they should they are a great team and with Jackson they add to the level of passing.
He will probably back-up Stockton 18 minutes and join him for something like 7 minutes in the back-court. Another possibility is that he would be the starting shooting guard. And don't laugh, this is serious. Stevenson still has to prove himself and Jackson is a better player than Cheaney, and a much better passer. Since Hornacek the Jazz failed to find a good passer and shooter on the shooting guard position and Jackson can do both. He is an excellent passer and a good shooter and I certainly think he will get a chance to prove he can play at the SG spot. I mean, a back-court of Stockton and Jackson may lack height and quickness but it would open so many doors on the offensive end because of their passing abilities and their abilities to run plays that Sloan might want to make Jackson the starting shooting guard. At least Jackson will be on that position in the small line-up late in the game like Sloan did with Crotty frequently last year but I certainly think this is an option that shouldn't be shoved away. The only real problem is that you then have two old guys who lack quickness so that a Steve Francis for example could just burst through the defense. In that case it is nice to have Stevenson or Cheaney there to play defense on Francis while Jackson or Stockton moves up to the shooting guard. But when you play against a mediocre point guard this could be the best option. Like when you play the Lakers. You put Kiri on Bryant, Stockton on Fisher and Jackson on Fox. They have a mismatch with Fox but he probably won't be capable to take advantage of it as much as you take advantage of playing with two great passers on the offensive end. And this way you can also include Arroyo in the rotation so that he can get some minutes as well because Arroyo is still a pretty nice point guard.
But even if Jackson only will be the back-up of Stockton the Jazz did improve themselves tremendously. Finally the Jazz won't see their lead disappear when Stockton leaves because no one is there to lead the offense. Jackson will provide scoring and leadership skills. The Jazz now have the best passing point guard duo and because of that they will win some games that otherwise would be lost. Jackson is still a good point guard and could be a starter on a lot of teams. Jackson will be capable of running the Jazz offense and will provide the right attitude as he, just like all the other guys on the roster this year, wants to win. And this also means that Lopez and Arroyo will have two great guys to learn from. Jackson brings a lot of experience and quality so this is also a good move by the Jazz in the long run. Maybe even in the far, far future since a lot of young boys who want to play point guard will now be able to see two of the greatest passers play with each other live in the Delta Center and even they will learn from it because those two guys can pass and lead the offense like no other point guard duo can. They still play the point guard position like it used to and should be played. Pass first, shoot second, work hard, make the team better. That are the things a point guard should do and Jackson just like Stockton does that. So sit back, relax and learn from this old school point guard duo because there will be a lot of good passes that a lot of young point guards can't make. Young point guards are changing the position and a commentator often wonders why he didn't make the pass. Simple, he can't make the pass. But now the Jazz have two point guards who can make the pass and that is what makes the Jazz style so good and beautiful, good passers. Because if you can make the pass, your team will score more. And that, after all is said and done, is still the goal you want to reach.