Journeyman Jim

It was a pleasant surprise to see Jim Jackson put in a crunch performance for the Phoenix Suns against the Dallas Mavericks in game six of their semi-final playoff series. Jackson is one of several players in the NBA who cannot seem to find a team that sticks with them or one that they can belong to. In the three seasons that I have seriously followed the NBA, Jackson is already with his fourth team. He was quite an important bench player with the Kings in the 2002-03 season, then got traded to Houston, where again he was quite a useful contributor. Much to his chagrin however, he was traded to the then worst in the league Hornets in the David Wesley deal and he was so dejected he did not even report. Apparently, the Hornets were quite happy to just suspend him and save on his salary, and were never really serious about his services. When the Suns acquired him (after reports of a deal with the Nets), he was finally put out of his misery. Well, at least till the summer! Incidentally, the Ohio swing man was drafted by Dallas in 1992 and never really became the star that he was expected to, even though he had a season when he averaged around 25ppg. But after playing for eleven teams in 13 seasons (not considering stop overs such as New Orleans), I seriously doubt if Jackson savours getting revenge at the moment. - NK