Marty Burns: No pay, no foul

[nAj jAn™]

No pay, no foul

As long as Jackson gives up check, don't bash him for shunning N.O.

Posted: Wednesday January 12, 2005 2:49PM; Updated: Wednesday January 12, 2005 2:49PM


Jim Jackson is averaing 13.3 points per game this season.
Rocky Widner/Getty Images

In the spring of '99, I went to Portland to write a piece for Sports Illustrated about then-Blazers swingman Jim Jackson, who was getting set to make his first career playoff appearance after 446 games spanning seven NBA seasons. At the time it was the ninth-longest such drought in league history, and Jackson (who had spurned a bigger offer from the Clippers to sign a three-year $5.8 million deal with the Blazers) was clearly looking forward to his first dip in postseason waters.

"This is the reason I came here," he said. "I wanted to be in a winning situation."

Jackson wound up having a solid playoff run. Once a big-time scorer with the Mavs (he averaged 25.7 points per game in '94-95), he had willingly accepted a role off Portland's bench as Isaiah Rider's backup. Thanks in part to his defense and shot-making, the Blazers made it all the way to the Western Conference finals before blowing a huge fourth-quarter Game 7 lead against the Lakers. Unfortunately for Jackson, he was traded along with Rider that summer to the Hawks in a deal for Steve Smith. It was a tough break for the former Ohio State standout.

But Jackson bit his lip and kept his grumbling to a minimum during the subsequent season-and-a-half in the Atlanta wasteland.

I thought of this last week after hearing the news that Jackson had been suspended indefinitely by the Hornets. Unhappy about the Dec. 27 trade that sent him from Houston to New Orleans, he simply refused to report to New Orleans.

At 34, Jackson apparently has decided that he doesn't want to waste his time on a 4-29 Hornets team. Every game he misses, he loses 1/90th of his $2.4 million annual salary. The meter is now at $161,333 and running. Jackson, naturally, is taking a PR beating. Hornets fans are calling him selfish and spoiled. Even some of his fellow NBA players think he's wrong.

"If you get traded, you still gotta play," Warriors forward Cliff Robinson says. "That's the nature of the business."

But if Jackson is willing to give up the cash, why should anybody be upset? After all, don't we criticize players for collecting paychecks when their hearts aren't in it? Isn't this better than showing up and pulling a Vince Carter? Jackson has already been through a hellish rebuilding situation in his career. His '92-93 Mavs team finished 11-71, second-worst of all time. The following year his Mavs were 13-69. Even if Jackson deserves some of the blame for those terrible records, isn't it understandable that he wouldn't want to relive that nightmare?

Moreover, one could argue Jackson already more than repented to the basketball gods for his old Dallas sins. New Orleans would mark his 11th team in 13 NBA seasons. While that's often a sign of a malcontent, Jackson was an innocent victim in most of these cases.

Portland just wanted to get rid of Rider. Atlanta dealt him to Cleveland to get a badly-needed point guard in Brevin Knight. Sacramento let him go for financial reasons. Jackson thought he had finally found a home in Houston, where he was a favorite of coach Jeff Van Gundy, but he fell victim to the Rockets' sudden need for an additional ball-handler (David Wesley).

Now Jackson finds himself in the basketball backwaters of New Orleans with no clue as to why he's there. The Hornets made the trade to get rid of Wesley and acquire a decent young prospect in Bostjan Nachbar. Jackson was a throw-in to make the salaries match up. That's why Jackson is being so stubborn and holding out for a trade.

He and GM Allan Bristow have spoken once, during a conference call shortly after the trade, but that has been the extent of the conversation. Mark Termini, Jackson's agent, declined comment Friday except to say that his client had nothing against New Orleans and was hopeful something could be worked out to the advantage of both parties.

Clearly, the Hornets could get something for Jackson if they try hard enough. The Nuggets need a shooting guard and might be willing to part with Rodney White. The Heat have extra pieces in Wes Person and Rasual Butler, and Jackson was spotted recently at a game in Miami.

But there is no guarantee the Hornets will do anything. Publicly, Bristow says he still hopes Jackson changes his mind and agrees to suit up. The Hornets even have a locker stall ready at New Orleans Arena, complete with a No. 22 Jackson jersey and an unopened box of Air Max Nikes, size 15. Or the notoriously tight-fisted Hornets might decide to keep Jackson on the suspended list so they don't have to pay his salary.

Whatever the case, we're not saying anybody should feel sorry for Jackson. The NBA is a business. Players use their leverage all the time to maximize their gain. The Rockets had every right to trade Jackson, and the Hornets have every right to expect him to suit up. But don't put Jackson alongside Carter, Alonzo Mourning and Tracy McGrady in the NBA's Mt. Rushmore of Malingerers either.

Unlike Zo, Jackson's not collecting on a fat paycheck to do nothing. Unlike Carter and T-Mac last season, he's not going out on the floor and playing at half-throttle. All Jackson wants is a chance to play for a contending team before it's too late. The Hornets need guys who truly want to be there. It seems something could be done to satisfy those goals and make this a win-win situation for both parties.



Marty Burns covers pro basketball for SI.com.



I don't know if this is already posted.

I felt bad for JJ. Maybe he should go to Miami...

[VF21]

Thanks for the article.

I still wish JJ the best - he's putting his money where his mouth is. I don't always agree with Marty Burns and I know some here won't agree with this article OR JJ's actions, but I think he's got it right:

Unlike Zo, Jackson's not collecting on a fat paycheck to do nothing. Unlike Carter and T-Mac last season, he's not going out on the floor and playing at half-throttle. All Jackson wants is a chance to play for a contending team before it's too late. The Hornets need guys who truly want to be there. It seems something could be done to satisfy those goals and make this a win-win situation for both parties.

[Bricklayer]

I felt bad for JJ.

I feel bad for New Orleans.

Its hypocrisy -- if Chris Webber had actually refused to get on that airplane and come to Sacramento in 1998, what would our reaction have been? We were after all the absolute worst backwater in basketball at the time.

[VF21]

You aren't going to change your mind and I am not going to change mine. The difference between Webber, who DID get off the plane so it doesn't matter, and JJ is that JJ had a home here and had to be let go for salary reasons. He went to Houston and had a home there and was performing at an acceptable level. All of a sudden, he's tossed into a trade - not because he's wanted - but to make salaries match?

If I have a contract to work for someone and they decide to transfer me, I have a choice: I can accept the transfer OR I can refuse to go. JJ has refused to go and he's forfeiting his pay while the matter is unresolved.

I think the whole method of trading players sucks in that players are treated as nothing more than chattel. They are expected to give their heart and loyalty to a franchise, put it all out there and hope for the best. They move their families into town, make ties, get settled, etc. The least they could hope for would be a little bit of respect when they're traded. I have never liked the idea of blind-siding players -regardless of which sport does it. Teams can own a player's talents but they shouldn't be able to own the player's whole life.

Just my three cents...

[nAj jAn™]

To Brick -
But Webber is still young at that time, still in his prime. While JJ is now 34, been in many losing teams. If you're in the shoes of JJ, would you still play again in your nightmare!

I feel for him, he doesn't want to be in that situation again. I know NBA is business, but still the NBA just wasted his time and effort, his talent, or i mean the teams he had. He's just too tired for that. Like Jon Barry, i caught him and his wife in the Inside stuff interview long ago when he was dealt to the Hawks, he was tired also for always moving every year, he felt sorry for his kids, new school, new friends every year! If i'm in their shoes, its very frustrating and difficult also. I truly understand them! And that business thing in the NBA really sucks. IMO

[bdouble013]

Give me a break. When people sign an NBA contract they know that one of the risks they take is to be traded to a crappy team. DC knew going in that he could be traded from a place he loved to another team, and he took it like a man and fulfilled his responsibilities. What would we all say if DC said, "Nah, I'm good. I think I'll wait for a trade or retire."

Step up and be a man JJ.

[Bricklayer]

1) JJ was the PRIMARY piece New Orleans tried to pick up. A veteran to help fill Mashburn's shoes.

2) if it even matters, he is only moving a couple of hundred miles.

3) yes, the difference is that Chris Webber reported. That is why he is BETTER than JJ.

4) Chris Webber was traded from a team he wanted to play for, on the coast he wanted to play on, and away from one of his his best friends in the league (Howard).

5) you are paid millions of dollars to bounce a stupid ball. That comes with reponsibilities. Suck it up and play.

6) JJ is eating up New Orleans cap room. He is embarrassing them as a franchise. He is saying they are not good enough for him and potentially throwing further doubt on their status as a destination franchsie for future FAs. . If such conduct were commonplace, NO bad team would have any hope of getting better. He is a PROFESSIONAL, in theory. Such conduct is not only unprofessional, it is just flat out wrong.

7) If you can't deal with trades, drafts and other rules for player movement, then you should go watch college ball. They are some of the absolute pillars around which pro sports leagues are built and the only hope for competitive balance. If Webber (or Richmond before him) had gone as far as JJ, the Kings would probably be playing in another city now. Luckily, as unhappy as he was he didn;t decide he was bigger than the game, the league, the CBA.

8) Marty Burns writes crap like this all the time because his team, his franchise, never faces these problems. Its like the Yankees pooh-poohing the salary disparity in baseball. Its selfish hypocrisy.

[bdouble013]

Afreakinmen Brother Bricky!

Now pass around the plate so I can donate!

[kingskings!]

Interesting conversation and the money involved makes this out of my realm of reality...however...


I work for a multi-national corporation. They pay me an excellent salary. However, as I see it, I have the same choices as JJ and Doug if my company chooses to move me/my job or redeploy me in a different job. I may be moved for the same salary or I may be moved with an increase in salary because my skills are needed elsewhere and I have the same two choices as Doug and JJ: Uproot myself, my family, and break my ties here to take a promotion and "fulfill a need for my employer or decline my "opportunity" and resign (no salary)."

Honestly, I can see both points of view...I either follow my work and continue to earn a healthy paycheck or I can say (after 3 moves already) enough is enough, I don't have the desire and enthusiasm left to start everything over again and I'm financially secure enough to say "no, but thank you for thinking of me".


I admire Doug for following his job to Orlando. He obviously still has the passion to do his job to his own level of satisfaction and I am fairly certain financial concerns don't really play into his decision to go. He doesn't really strike me as a player who spends stupidly and who is smart enough to have saved for his post-NBA life...so kudos to Doug for having that love and that passion still in him.

I admire JJ for saying "enough is enough, I don't need it and I don't love the game or need the game enough to go somewhere just to collect the paycheck"...if JJ was getting PAID right now I'd feel differently. NO suspended him and it was the right thing for them to do. They had an opportunity to nullify the trade after they knew JJ wouldn't report and they didn't. Nobody is getting a surprise here. NO knew he wouldn't show up, JJ knew he wouldn't get paid (do you see him crying in the newspapers? No, I didn't think so).

Like I said, I do admire both of them for different reasons. If Doug didn't give the best he had every night then I'd think less of him for accepting the trade (I'm not claiming the best he has now is the best he's ever had). If JJ had waited until after his trade went through to refuse to report then I'd think less of him.

I think they are both admirable for the same reason even though the outward appearance of the trait is different. They play all out or they don't play at all. It would have been much easier for JJ to report and collect his paycheck than to hold out. Doug, obviously, thinks he has enough in the tank to play all out for Orlando because that's the way he approaches his job. I think they're just in different places but faced with the same decision. Doug has played for 5 teams, JJ has played for 12 (I think) and that can seriously change your point of view.

Returning to my personal business life...moving 3-5 times for monetary gains (and smaller distances) and because you feel you can contribute is very very different from being asked to move 11-13 times (over greater distances) no matter what the money involved is (especially,if like JJ, you've saved your NBA salary and started a successful side business as he has).

When I started work for my company, it was a two state operation...I'd have moved anywhere to keep my job and get a bigger paycheck because I loved what I did but there comes a time when you're asked to do more than you are willing to do (my company is now multi-national and multi-continental) and if you've begun to lose your passion (or you're unwilling to take on yet another "dead-dog" assignment and attempt to turn it into a live quarter horse) you do have the choice to just say no. And I think that's all JJ is doing.

Unless NBA players have become indentured servants and I missed the memo.

KK!

Winner of "most resuscitated dead-dog" assignments in the Western United States (at least in my corp.).

[VF21]

Interesting conversation and the money involved makes this out of my realm of reality...however...


I work for a multi-national corporation. They pay me an excellent salary. However, as I see it, I have the same choices as JJ and Doug if my company chooses to move me/my job or redeploy me in a different job. I may be moved for the same salary or I may be moved with an increase in salary because my skills are needed elsewhere and I have the same two choices as Doug and JJ: Uproot myself, my family, and break my ties here to take a promotion and "fulfill a need for my employer or decline my "opportunity" and resign (no salary)."

Honestly, I can see both points of view...I either follow my work and continue to earn a healthy paycheck or I can say (after 3 moves already) enough is enough, I don't have the desire and enthusiasm left to start everything over again and I'm financially secure enough to say "no, but thank you for thinking of me".


I admire Doug for following his job to Orlando. He obviously still has the passion to do his job to his own level of satisfaction and I am fairly certain financial concerns don't really play into his decision to go. He doesn't really strike me as a player who spends stupidly and who is smart enough to have saved for his post-NBA life...so kudos to Doug for having that love and that passion still in him.

I admire JJ for saying "enough is enough, I don't need it and I don't love the game or need the game enough to go somewhere just to collect the paycheck"...if JJ was getting PAID right now I'd feel differently. NO suspended him and it was the right thing for them to do. They had an opportunity to nullify the trade after they knew JJ wouldn't report and they didn't. Nobody is getting a surprise here. NO knew he wouldn't show up, JJ knew he wouldn't get paid (do you see him crying in the newspapers? No, I didn't think so).

Like I said, I do admire both of them for different reasons. If Doug didn't give the best he had every night then I'd think less of him for accepting the trade (I'm not claiming the best he has now is the best he's ever had). If JJ had waited until after his trade went through to refuse to report then I'd think less of him.

I think they are both admirable for the same reason even though the outward appearance of the trait is different. They play all out or they don't play at all. It would have been much easier for JJ to report and collect his paycheck than to hold out. Doug, obviously, thinks he has enough in the tank to play all out for Orlando because that's the way he approaches his job. I think they're just in different places but faced with the same decision. Doug has played for 5 teams, JJ has played for 12 (I think) and that can seriously change your point of view.

Returning to my personal business life...moving 3-5 times for monetary gains (and smaller distances) and because you feel you can contribute is very very different from being asked to move 11-13 times (over greater distances) no matter what the money involved is (especially,if like JJ, you've saved your NBA salary and started a successful side business as he has).

When I started work for my company, it was a two state operation...I'd have moved anywhere to keep my job and get a bigger paycheck because I loved what I did but there comes a time when you're asked to do more than you are willing to do (my company is now multi-national and multi-continental) and if you've begun to lose your passion (or you're unwilling to take on yet another "dead-dog" assignment and attempt to turn it into a live quarter horse) you do have the choice to just say no. And I think that's all JJ is doing.

Unless NBA players have become indentured servants and I missed the memo.

KK!

Winner of "most resuscitated dead-dog" assignments in the Western United States (at least in my corp.).

Very well said.

[LPKingsFan]

Didn't NO have a chance to void the deal after learning JJ's intentions? Or am i just thinking about Zo and Toronto?

[kingskings!]

Didn't NO have a chance to void the deal after learning JJ's intentions? Or am i just thinking about Zo and Toronto?

Yes, NO had a chance to void the deal and chose not to.

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

There's nothing remotely admirable or noble about Jackson's behavior; his selfishness does potentially irremediable damage to the Hornets franchise. And it's not the same as if you decided to resign from your job rather than being forced to move: if you quit your job, your company can replace you with someone who's similarly qualified. New Orleans doesn't have that luxury; they just have to sit and spin until Jackson's contract runs out.

And I refuse to accept the claim that Jackson lost his "passion" for the game, because if he had, he wouldn't be trying to pull this power play bull**** to get traded to a "contender." I mean, come on: I'm supposed to believe that Jackson doesn't have enough passion left to play for the Hornets, but he just happens to have enough left to play for a playoff team? Sorry, don't buy it... If Jackson had any integrity, if he's sincerely lost passion for the game, he wouldn't be lobbying for a trade; he'd retire, and stay that way... permanently.

I continue to be astonished by the way some people around here are willing to make excuses for Jackson, just because he spent half a season in Sacramento; nobody'd be feeling sorry for Tony Massenburg if he were in the same situation... Or even Keon Clark...

[twocents]

i am too lazy to reiterate and twocents-ify what brick and slim have so well articulated.

[4cwebb]

I'm inclined to agree with KK here, although Brick and Slim raise good points. But just as JJax has to agree to the inherent risk while playing in the NBA that he could be traded and wind up on a team like the Hornets, so do the Hornets have to accept the inherent risk that, despite offering a person millions of dollars to play a game, that person will decide not to play the game, sticking them not with paying him but with him on their books. They aren't out any actual money -- just out the chance to spend the money to make the team better, but that's one of the risks. The Hornets knew it when they got into this trade.

And this isn't because I feel for JJax as a person due to a few good months that he had in a Kings' uniform.

[6th]

Boy, this is a tough one and I can see both sides of the argument. I am going to remove JJ from the equation and comment on the "principle" of the situation, regardless what player is involved.

Yes, these guys sign huge contracts to play a game. And, they have certain obligations after signing the contract. However, like kk said, we also don't want the CBA to turn into making players indentured servants.

If a player simply will not move (yet again), he should have that right. I admire someone who stays home and forfeits their salary. It is absolutely not the same thing as the spoiled brats who demand a trade while collecting huge salaries and playing at half-speed. They are taking money under fraudulent conditions (in my mind).

If I (were I a player) want to say no to my company and do not collect a paycheck then the only harm done is the company's inability (in this case) to not be able to replace me. Something can (and should) be done in the NBA to remedy this type of situation.

Now, can you force me to retire if I won't play for the company who wants to send me somewhere I will not go? Don't I have the inalienable right to shop my talents to a company who will pay me?

There are good things about a CBA. But, if it means I must give up my right to work, then there are problems with the entire process....IMO.

[mcsluggo]

What a load.

I can't believe that people are criticizing some one as selfish for turning down a $2.4mil/year job. He doesn't want to do the "work", and as a result he is turning down the paycheck. end of story.

HE IS NOT A SLAVE. Under the CBA he has many FEWER choices than you or I would have under roughly similar circumstances. He isn't even able to try to ply his trade elsewhere. He either can accept the situation (and paycheck) and play in NO, or reject both and be unable to bring his most valuable skill to the market.

If Webber had not come to Sac (and refused his paycheck) I would have been irritated, for purely selfish reasons. Just like I'm irritated if somebody else nabs the last blazer in my size at at a huge sale right before I can get it. I'd be iritated, but tough toucas. IT IS HIS FRICKIN CHOICE.

[mcsluggo]

You know I had a chance to DOUBLE my salary a couple of months ago. However, I would have had to move to Indonesia for between 18 to 24 months. I have two small children, and my wife is pregnant. I decided to stay in DC, in a MUCH more expensive area for MUCH less money, because that was my choice.


Is anyone ready to criticize me for screwing over the firm?

[nAj jAn™]

Word mcsluggo

[Bricklayer]

I'm inclined to agree with KK here, although Brick and Slim raise good points. But just as JJax has to agree to the inherent risk while playing in the NBA that he could be traded and wind up on a team like the Hornets, so do the Hornets have to accept the inherent risk that, despite offering a person millions of dollars to play a game, that person will decide not to play the game, sticking them not with paying him but with him on their books. They aren't out any actual money -- just out the chance to spend the money to make the team better, but that's one of the risks. The Hornets knew it when they got into this trade.

And this isn't because I feel for JJax as a person due to a few good months that he had in a Kings' uniform.

There is nothing New Orleans should have had to "risk" -- THEY played by the rules. Rules negotiated between the league, the teams and the players union. Rules which JJ has agreed to abide by, except when it doesn't suit him apparently. THIS is why JJ has a bad reputation arouond the league -- he looks out for #1 at all times, and screw any other considerations. New Orleans traded away the longest tenured member of their franchise to get him. Traded away a guy who was in many ways their Doug Christie -- veteran combo guard leader that has meant a lot to the franchise. You can't just rescind that mid-season trade. Oh yes, "sorry about that David, come on back and give us your best". Right.

If what he has done is ok, then Mitch Richmond refusing to report to "hell" would have been just hunky dorry, Chris Webber never getting onto that plane to cowtown perfectly acceptable, Peja Stojakovic deciding not to report this October an understandable reaction. Come on people, we've been down this road before ourselves. We've been the little team getting **** upon. its no fun, and its not fair to the fans or the franchise. The league does not work if people only play by the rules when they feel like it and its to their advantage. If what Jim Jackson did is ok, then Baron Davis demanding a trade was ok, in fact Baron not even showing up tommorow would be ok. After all, they do suck. In fact why should anybody on that team show up tommorow? Contracts be damned. Most of those guys were drafted onto that team against their will or traded to them anyway. Why should they have to play anywhere and anytime except when they want to? I suspose if Mobley refuses to report tommorow that will be just grand and we'll all be dancing in the streets celebrating his independence right?

There are plusses and minuses to EVERY profession. If you are a lawyer, you have to work 12 hour days, a surgeon, you are on 24hr call, if you are a plumber, you have to wade into other people's ****, and if you are an NBA player you have to accept the possibility that you may have to relocate. You live one of the best lifestyles of anybody on the planet. And JJ should show up for exactly the same reason that I don't just say to my employers "sorry, don't feel like coming in tommorow", or "sorry, I'm tired of this case or this client" somebody else can finish up. For the same reason a surgeon doesn't say "find somebody else" when there is nobody else. For the same reason that every soldier in our volunteer army does not go AWOL when they are assigned to that hellhole in Iraq. We all knew what the possibilities were. We also all understood the obligations that came with the choices we had made. All knew what we were getting into and that things wouldn't always go just the way we wanted. All agreed to participate/signup anyway. Difference is that most of us live up to our obligations.

JJ signed a contract which EXPLICITLY said he could be traded -- have not seen an NBA personal services contract but am quite sure the clause must take the form of an assignment clause -- his contract can be assigned to another team. He knew that going in. Agreed to it. Signed it. Indeed may not have been able to sign that contract if he did not agree to it. But I guess if you're JJ, why bother neogtiating a trade refusal clause when you will just vioalte your contract, break your word, when you feel like it anyway. Why should you do what you've agreed to if you don't want to? You're better than pesky little concerns like honoring your agreements.

JJ being upset is understandable. Even JJ asking the Hornets to trade him to somebody else might be understandable. JJ throwing a temper tantrum and ****ting all over the franchsie for having the temerity to trade for he, the great Jim Jackson, is not.