Reggie Jackson is extremely thankful to be a Detroit Piston. The point guard didn't hold back when describing the end of his tenure in Oklahoma City, where his minutes were dwindling and blame was being heaped on his shoulders.
"I wasn't always perfect, nor was the situation, but I became the brunt of the blame there," Jackson said recently. "Everything bad that happened, I was the scapegoat. I'm taking all this blame, and I'm wondering: 'How am I supposed to change it all here, make an impact, in eight minutes a game?'"
Jackson raised expectations when he saved the Thunder from a 3-1 hole in the opening round of the Western Conference playoffs with a 32-point, nine-rebound performance that helped the Thunder advance to the next round.
The promising young guard was supposed to thrive as the leader of Oklahoma City's second unit this year, and he did play well when Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were missing time due to injury. Unfortunately, the Thunder kept losing despite his efforts, and Jackson, hungry for more responsibility, started taking more shots and attacking the rim less.
His role decreased when the Thunder traded for Dion Waiters, and his minutes continued to decrease. By the time he was traded, animosity was evident. His teammates didn't seem upset to see Jackson go, but Jackson says his new head coach is more than happy to have him.
"I've always dreamed about this, and I was never sure it would happen," Jackson told Yahoo Sports. "Stan believes in me, in the leader that I can be. He believes in the player that I can be, and I've always imagined having a coach like this, an opportunity like this, in the NBA."
Jackson's first game as a Piston was reminiscent of what he accomplished in the few moments he had as Oklahoma City's lead dog. He scored 17 points with five assists and five rebounds in 30 minutes. In 13 games in November, Jackson scored 19.5 points a night as the No. 1 option to go with 7.5 assists and 5.3 rebounds.
[Yahoo]
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