Suns GM Ryan McDonough (left) introduces top draft pick Josh Jackson in Phoenix Friday. Success by Jackson, in life and on the court, is vital to the Suns’ growth plan.
Suns have a responsibility to help Jackson mature
He’s big, strong, fast and competitive. It’s clear that Josh Jackson can help the Suns. The question is whether the Suns can help Josh Jackson.
The former University of Kansas star who grew up in Detroit is working through the legal fallout of what he called on Friday in downtown Phoenix “two bad decisions.” It’s now on General Manager Ryan McDonough and coach Earl Watson to help provide mentoring, stability and accountability to a young man who — like all young men — needs all three.
It’s in their best interest. Jackson would be positioned to reach his potential as a player if he gets help reaching his potential as a man.
It’s a role the team seems to acknowledge.
McDonough said he’s looking forward to what Jackson and the team’s two secondround picks, Davon Reed and Alec Peters, “can become in this league, as players and as men.”
Jackson,Davon Peters Josh Reedand Alec their show newoff Suns jerseys during a news conference on Friday at Talking Stick Resort Arena. ROB SCHUMACHER/ AZCENTRAL SPORTS
Are they going to help?
The 6-foot-8, 20-year-old forward has been called the No. 1 prospect in this year’s draft class – a nasty defender who can make a difference immediately. With the selection, McDonough looks shrewd. He came away with top talent with the fourth pick and didn’t trade away anyone to get him.
But Jackson also comes with risk. On the court, his jumper is shaky, and the team surely will work with him on improving his shot. But far more seriously, off the court, Jackson has acknowledged involvement in a confrontation with a women’s basketball player outside of a Kansas bar in December, and he separately pleaded guilty in a minor hit and run in February.
Jackson is an adult. Whatever he does, positive or negative, it’s on him, but since McDonough knew of the issues before the draft, he has a role in making sure there are no further problems.
With Jackson on a six-month probation stemming from the fender-bender and working through a yearlong diversion agreement in the bar argument — his rec-
ord will be cleared if he writes an apology letter, completes anger management and stays away from drugs and alcohol — these things aren’t behind him. Not yet.
Once they are, we can focus solely on basketball.
For what it’s worth, Jackson and I have a lot in common. Roots in Detroit. Connections in Kansas. And now a job in Phoenix. As far as I’m concerned, that makes us cousins. I know first-hand that I wasn’t done maturing at 20, even if some people are. I’m rooting for the young man to make good.
Mentoring
McDonough and Watson say they’re ready to help with mentoring “that starts at the top with our owner, Robert Sarver,” who regularly helps players get set up with a home and a charitable foundation.
Also, “we’re accessible,” McDonough said. Watson “always talks about the Suns family and what we’re able to do beyond basketball.”
McDonough added that Watson “and his staff are unusually available, and I mean that in a positive way.”
He said players stay in town and work out together and communicate throughout the summer. The incoming rookies, including Jackson, will be working on proposed training schedules leading into camp.
Watson added that he uses a life coach to help players develop.
Jackson’s immediate support network includes his mother, Apples Jones, aunt Shaerita Waddell, cousin Blair Glover, agent B.J. Armstrong (the former Chicago Bulls guard) and manager Kevin Columbus.
But once he gets to Phoenix, he’ll be more involved with the Suns staff and his new teammates.
Stability
If they can help provide stability, they’ll be able to help him grow.
According to news clips provided by the Suns, Jackson, in the last four years, has lost his father, Clarence Jones, and a beloved coach, Al Anderson, to heart problems. Meanwhile, his cousin and closest friend, Sam King, was shot dead.
In the same span, Jackson has moved from Detroit to Napa, Calif., to Kansas and now Phoenix.
In the past eight years, he’s had at least eight different coaches.
It’s not clear that the Suns are positioned to provide the consistency that could help Jackson reach his highest potential: The team hasn’t reached the playoffs in seven seasons, McDonough is entering the final year of his contract, and Watson has a sub-.300 record as a head coach.
The team’s vision, however, seems tied to the future. So there’s a chance.
Accountability
Accountability also will be key. According to the affidavit connected to a misdemeanor property damage charge, McKenzie Calvert accused Jackson of following her out of a bar and cursing and threatening her before kicking her car.
Two months later he backed into a vehicle on campus and left without providing contact information.
The fender-bender doesn’t seem to be a big deal. Calvert’s accusations are something else.
Judging from what Jackson told reporters after he was drafted, he didn’t get that:
“I learned that everything I do is just under a magnifying glass now. I learned that no matter how small whatever I do is, it’s going to be blown up to look like something bad, and that’s exactly what happened. I owned up to the mistake I made that night, but it wasn’t that serious,” he said.
By Friday, however, his answers had improved. “I made two mistakes,” he said. “One was just because of ignorance,” he said of the fender-bender. “The other was bad judgment.”
Perhaps the growth process has already started.