Stephen Jackson announced his retirement a year ago. He played his last NBA game in January 2014 and is 38-years-old. Still that isn’t stopping him from attempting an NBA comeback and being very confident about it. He’s so confident, he doesn’t plan to try out for any teams. Jackson says there’s only one or two, two-way players in the league like him, who actually defend.
via HoopsHype:
How has the process been?
SJ: The process has been really easy for me because I really never worked out this hard. I gave myself seven months to work out, to make sure I wouldn’t have any setbacks, to make sure that I wouldn’t have any injuries. My body feels great. As I started working out, I realized that I still have basketball left and why not go back to the NBA where I belong. I wasn’t going overseas, I wasn’t doing nothing that I felt was a setback. Then people started seeing me working out, and teams started calling me. I never really stopped playing, I just stopped playing in the NBA.
I read you told Jimmy Butler that if any team signs Ray Allen before you they’re losing their mind…
SJ: Well, actually not a lot of people know that Jimmy has been calling me. We’ve been talking for like three months now. Even [Rajon] Rondo has been calling me, they really want me on the Bulls team. I’ve been talking to a lot of guys, because guys know what I bring. There’s not many guys like me. There’s probably one or two guys in the NBA like me that can play both ways and don’t mind really shutting the guy down. I’m a winner, I’ve been in the playoffs many years. Guys know I’m a great teammate, Tim Duncan called me the ultimate teammate. I know how to play good for the guy next to me. I’m getting calls and I will be ready and that’s the biggest part.
Have you spoken to someone from the Warriors organization about your comeback?
SJ: Well, I spoke to Steve Kerr, who is a great friend of mine. We won a championship together in 2003 and he’s seen videos of me working out, he’s seen videos of me playing. He knows how I approach the game, that I play with great passion. So he knows I can still play. I haven’t agreed to do anything with Golden State. My thing is that I’m not really trying out for anybody. I know how to play the game, I know what I bring. I’m just waiting for the right situation where somebody knows that I’ve played for a long time, that I am a champion. I want to compete, I want to have fun with the game. I want to play against the best team, that has always been my attitude.
