ESPN analyst Mark Jackson may be looking to return to the sidelines, and the Brooklyn Nets’ Sunday-morning firings of GM Billy King and head coach Lionel Hollins may be his ticket in. Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix tweeted Sunday that Jackson will likely lobby for the Nets’ coaching job:
Expect ex-Warriors coach Mark Jackson to push to get in the mix for the Nets coaching job. Jackson has coveted that job in the past.
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) January 10, 2016
Jackson is still under contract to ESPN, signing a multiyear agreement to return to TV with them after Golden State fired him in 2014, but that may not be that hard to get out of. It does seem clear that he wants to coach again and that he’s not happy with how things ended with the Warriors, as they’ve gone on to dominate the league under replacement Steve Kerr (and interim coach Luke Walton this season while Kerr recovers from back surgery). Jackson has been very critical of the Warriors and star Steph Curry, and he’s clearly not thrilled they’re doing so well without him. (Stephen A. Smith thinks Jackson deserves all the credit, though.) Another coaching job could be a way for him to redeem his image a bit.
What’s not so clear is if there’s interest in Jackson from teams, though. Yes, he went 121-109 in three seasons with Golden State, and yes, he posted a 51-31 season in his final year. That was with an insanely-loaded roster, though, and one that’s only got better in his absence, going a league-best 67-15 last year and winning a NBA title and starting this season with an incredible 35-2 mark. Jackson found some success with the Warriors, but they’ve been a stronger team since his exit, and they’re the only line on his coaching resume. He had an impressive playing and broadcasting career (including working as a Nets’ analyst on YES), but while his coaching stint was solid in some areas, it’s not certain that it would make him a viable HC choice. His nonsensical and vindictive comments about Curry and the Warriors don’t make him look good, either. Still, no one knows what Nets’ owner Mikhail Prokhorov is going to do, and hiring Jackson instead of a more-proven coach would certainly be far from inconceivable for him.
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