For all the things you might fine-tune about Charlotte Bobcat Stephen Jackson, at his core this guy has a quality anyone can admire:
He's genuine.
That's why I'm confident, when the Bobcats e-mailed out an open letter to the fans Friday, that this really was Jackson's message. I don't know whether he literally wrote every word. But he's not the sort to sign something he doesn't believe.
He's genuine to a fault. That's what got him suspended for a game Wednesday in New Orleans. Jackson felt he wasn't getting a fair deal from referees. Jackson's overly-defined sense of justice took over and then there was no impulse control.
"He's a lot like Rasheed (Wallace) in that when he thinks things aren't fair, he gets frustrated by it,"
Bobcats coach Larry Brown described. "Some guys can fight through that. Sometimes I think they win (against) Jack."
By "they,"
Brown meant circumstances getting the best of Jackson. Fining him wasn't getting his attention. Suspension - punishing his teammates by his absence - was probably inevitable.
That open letter was a public promise to shape up. I got together with Jackson before Friday's home game with the Nets, and asked him how he plans to turn good intention into good behavior. In that unfiltered way Jackson talks, he compared this to a drinking problem.
"It's just like when somebody stops drinking; it's something you have to do,"
Jackson said. "This is something I have to do."
I'm glad Jackson views this as imperative. For the longest time he was fixated on whether he was getting calls. I understand his frustration; a guy who handles and shoots the ball as much as Jackson goes 12 minutes between free-throws. Doesn't make sense.
But he's finally making peace with the idea this is beyond his influence. And ironically enough, when he didn't gripe once Friday in the Nets' game, he took a season-high 13 free throws.
"I'll be the same person,"
Jackson said, "but I'll try to avoid thinking about stuff I can't control."
That's hard. When you're that talented and competitive at something, it's unnerving to accept limits. I don't know whether he'll succeed at this reinvention, but I know he's trying.
Jackson did something Friday that doesn't come naturally; he apologized. He did it with humility and contrition, and from the comments I read, the fans appreciated that.
"I don't usually apologize for anything. I thought I was fighting for a good cause,"
Jackson told me.
"The people who support me, the people who push me every day and work with me, I owed them something. That was the best way to get it across."
See what I mean? Like him or hate him, the guy defines genuine.
