Once About To Retire from Great Basketball Game, Nuggets Star Reggie Jackson Just One Kiss of Success Away from NBA Championship

DENVER — Nuggets forward Jeff Green made a crucial steal in the last minute of Game 4, demonstrating the kind of veteran play that is crucial to the outcome of the NBA Finals.

Veteran point guard Reggie Jackson shared Green’s sentiment at that very moment, thinking about how close the Nuggets are to capturing their first NBA championship.

“I almost started believing, is it for you? I didn’t know whether I’d be returning after such a long run. You’ve been searching for a long time, yet whatever it is keeps escaping your grasp. Do you think it’s meant for you?

Jackson told Yahoo Sports on Sunday, “When he saw me, he had a moment, he couldn’t move.” I let him know that I’d been “living vicariously through you.” Myself, [DeAndre Jordan], and a few seasoned players were speechless for a few minutes. I mean, come on, that’s not far at all!

The Miami Heat, the team who denied youngster Jackson his first shot at a ring in 2012, stand between the backup point guard and his first championship.

Jackson remarked, “It’s fun to look at different moments in this series, especially the older guys.” This is beginning to sink in. We’re almost there, you guys. We won’t back down now. We are aware of it.

Even being in Denver, let alone the NBA Finals, is something Jackson could never have imagined. He joined the Clippers at the beginning of the year thinking they had a good opportunity at making the playoffs and playing in June, which is something he never would have imagined happening.

That was a rise from the depths of professional despair, when he considered giving up at the very time that was supposed to be Jackson’s zenith, when all his talents, efforts, and sacrifices would finally pay off.

“No, I can’t believe I’m here now,” he exclaimed. After the debacle in Detroit, I seriously questioned whether or not I still had it in me to play professionally. The anticipation, the excitement. Then it’s back around again when it’s traded.

Jackson was prepared to abandon his current situation. Retire. The physical demands of the game became too much for Jackson, who still had several years left on the five-year, $80 million contract he signed in the summer of 2015.

Due to persistent ankle problems, he fell from prominence as an underappreciated point player to obscurity in the NBA. Remember his cocky stroll across the Palace of Auburn Hills floor after the Pistons won a playoff place in 2016? That was against the Thunder, who had been underusing him in Oklahoma City.

In his first two and a half seasons with the Pistons, Jackson averaged 18.5 points, 7.0 dimes, and approximately 44% shooting. Jackson, at 28 years old, struggled to stay on the court for the next two seasons, and while making a comeback in 2018–19 and appearing in all 82 games, he was unable to rediscover his former glory.

His stats were decent, but not up to his standards (14.9 points, 4.8 assists).

I didn’t want to do it anymore,” Jackson remarked. I just couldn’t motivate myself to do what I love so much, which is to train hard and improve. However, it seemed like my body kept giving out on me.

It takes a lot of hard effort to stay at the level of productivity required to play in the NBA, let alone to improve. Instead of doing exercises on the floor, he started doing them in rehab and with his own thoughts.

“I felt like I was never gonna be healthy and be able to compete,” Jackson added. I feel like I’ve let my team and the company down. The coaching staff, you know, was full of optimism and they were in Detroit, where they were making strides and eventually returning to the playoffs after a long absence.

Jackson has a lot of gut instinct. He starts with “How are you doing?” before listening to your response. Being a military brat meant he had to constantly adapt to different environments, which sharpened his awareness.

“At first, you’re uneasy, but eventually, you learn to live with it. And how you see the world and how you fit within it,” Jackson remarked.

And your method of self-introduction. I believe it enhances one’s capacity for empathy. Many people reflect aspects of oneself that you admire or find relatable. You can read people’s souls.”

Being always alert can be draining, so when he gets some time to himself, however little, he makes the most of it. Even if he can’t relate, he asks because he’s genuinely curious, and he wants you to know that his focus is on the conversation at hand.

Many of us are starving for attention. Jackson argued that there was a lack of interpersonal contact. It only takes a second more to show someone they are appreciated and important. It’s fascinating how much can be conveyed just by body language.

Jackson was aware of how difficult he was to be around during this time. He admitted that he was “sulking.” And knowing this only served to drive him farther into his own head.

After saying, “It was hard trying to stay positive, really believing I would come back and then never hitting those markers,” “You’re trying to offer as much guidance as possible, but you’ve also got to let the team develop without you,” he said.

Jackson was not going to put up any resistance if the game and the team were going to go in a new path.

After being let go from the Pistons weeks before the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020, he went through the usual phases of a relationship, including bargaining and looking for a way out.

Not long after, Jackson’s close buddy Paul George saw Jackson and rescued him out of the muck. Even though Jackson had his doubts about whether or not the game still loved him, he decided to give it another shot.

Jackson expressed gratitude and effusive admiration for the Detroit Pistons’ ownership, coaching staff, and teammates, including Nuggets teammates Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith.

More twists and turns were needed due to Denver’s location.

It feels like coming full circle while also having unfinished business, but then again, so do many other points on the Reggie Jackson map.

Jackson, the lone NBA player born in Pordenone, Italy, moved about quite a bit until his family finally settled in Colorado when he was a senior in high school. The transient character of professional sports can evoke feelings of comfort and homesickness.

Therefore, Jackson wasn’t in a hurry to leave another location he’d allowed himself to call home after being dealt from Los Angeles at the deadline for Mason Plumlee. Reggie’s older brother kept nagging him to be ready for the next stop on the Reggie Jackson tour as the days passed.

After spending time in Oklahoma City, Detroit, and Los Angeles became permanent residence. Everything in his life, not just his basketball career, needed to change before Denver would sign him after he was released from Charlotte.

Despite knowing he was still effective and that the Nuggets had a decent shot at making the playoffs, Jackson found himself torn once again.

Time remaining: three days, two days. The hope of returning home was offset by the sadness he felt at leaving behind loved ones and familiar surroundings. In a different sense, he was moving away.

“Then it came down to the last day, I had to come out here for the game, you have to pack,” Jackson recalled. You’ve got a few of hours. This is a challenging task. In my head, I knew I had to, but my heart was truly invested in this company, this city, and this endeavor. All the ties and stuff.”

With his close friendship with George, he wished he could have seen the project through to its completion. With Jackson averaging 20.3 points per game on 46% shooting in the Western Conference Finals, the Clippers were only two wins away from the NBA Finals that year.

Still, he would have liked to have seen them go to the second round of the playoffs this year. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, as they were swept by the Phoenix Suns in five games despite missing both Paul George and Kawhi Leonard for the entire series.

“I think just, you get older, you realize everything has a timing,” Jackson explained. Sometimes things last for a very long period. Occasionally they don’t. There are times when our presence on Earth is temporary, and other times when it is permanent.

As one of the vets imparting advice and motivation to the young horses who have carried the Nuggets to the brink of history, he is nearly fulfilling the reason. He hasn’t gotten as much playing time as he’d want, but he knows his place right now.

Jackson remarked, “I can’t wait till, hopefully, we get this done and then everything, the emotion comes all at once.” The road to (possible) engagement ring retirement.

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