Stephen Jackson has never been one to hold his tongue but he’s been extra chatty lately as he prepares for an NBA comeback. This time he’s spilling the beans on former teammate Tony Parker whom he played with on the San Antonio Spurs from 2001-03, then came back during the 2011-12 season. They won a championship in 2003, and tried again in 2012 but fell short. Jackson says the reason they lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals after being up 2-0, is because of Parker.
From the ESPN TrueHoop podcast:
“You know what? I have. To be honest with you I really think Tony Parker was one of those guys. I just feel like the whole time when I was there, when I had good games, when I was playing well, I felt like Tony was the guy to really go against me, to go behind my back to Pop to play (Manu) Ginobili, to play other guys because he wanted the credit.
“I’m going to give you a perfect example. We was up 2-0 against the Thunder, my last year with the Spurs in (2012). They came back and won three games straight. But game six in OKC, I was having a hell of a game. I had six threes. Me and Kawhi (Leonard) was playing well. At the end of the game, when my six threes and other guys shots got us back in the game, Tony came in the game and tried to save the day and stopped playing team ball. We ended up losing that series. I kind of felt like that while he was on the sidelines, he was over there saying sneaky stuff to players and the coaches about getting back in the game so he can try to get his own personal achievements in the game and that’s why we lost. Pop wouldn’t say that. But I remember right after the game, me, Kawhi and Tim (Duncan) was sitting down after we lost, he came over there and said ‘I should have rode you guys, You all did everything you could.’ That’s his way of saying I should not have put Tony in the game.”
