Reggie Jackson seemed to be just getting started.
At Boston College, he was an All-ACC performer. Being a first-round draft pick in 2011 and joining the championship-winning Oklahoma City Thunder. Making a lot of money and playing a key offensive role for the Detroit Pistons. With the Los Angeles Clippers, he is relishing the role of postseason hero. And finally, with the Denver Nuggets, earning a championship.
More than a decade? There is no way that much time has passed. There’s no way his basketball career, which included being named Colorado’s state high school basketball player of the year in Colorado Springs in 2008, has more days behind him than ahead of him.
But, if anything, Jackson celebrates how fleeting and quick it all can be. He feels himself fortunate to have lasted this long in the NBA. He’s no longer the inexperienced kid looking for veteran guidance. He’s the veteran now, thrown into a key position with the world-champion Nuggets this season. If winning the championship with his home state team seems unreal to Jackson, it is. Whereas Jackson was simply on the ship last season, coming over in the trade that sent Bones Hyland to the Clippers, this time around he needs to help command and navigate the ship.’
“This is a big season for me and for us in general,” Jackson said to The Athletic. “We have to go into the season with the understanding that we have a collective mark on our backs as a team.” But, at the same time, I must do my bit and do everything in my power to ensure our success.”
Last season, Jackson’s presence in the locker room was appreciated. For the Nuggets, he was a breath of fresh air. He completed the task at hand. He was also not in head coach Michael Malone’s starting lineup. This is expected to alter this season. There is no Bruce Brown, who Denver lost to the Indiana Pacers for a contract he couldn’t refuse. There is no Jeff Green, the versatile forward who provided valuable minutes off Malone’s bench. In free agency, he joined the Houston Rockets.
This leaves the Nuggets with two significant voids in their rotation for the upcoming season. Brown’s beauty was that he was a huge wing who could not only exist but thrive in backup-point-guard minutes. Malone could then utilize him as a Swiss Army knife off the bench. Brown is not Jackson. He’s not as versatile, isn’t as good defensively, and doesn’t give the rim pressure Brown was able to get off the dribble on a consistent basis.
Jackson, on the other hand, can score. He’s always been offensively talented. He’s always been able to live in the paint off the bounce and to stretch opponents from the perimeter. If he is Jamal Murray’s primary backup, he has a big job ahead of him. Brown was able to keep Murray fresh and even relieve him of critical responsibilities. Jackson is large enough to play both guard positions and was once a shooting guard. They are of sufficient size and competence to play together.
Most significantly, Denver’s second unit appears to be extremely young. We’re talking about second-year forwards Christian Braun and Peyton Watson. And we may be talking about a rookie, especially because Vlatko anar is out indefinitely with a torn ACL. Jackson will be relied on to provide some much-needed leadership off the bench. Who are the starters? They are perfectly fine. Denver’s starting lineup is one of the greatest, deepest, most skillful, and most balanced in the league. However, without Brown and Green, the bench is fraught with uncertainty.
Will Jackson be able to provide some answers to these questions?
“Obviously the departure of Bruce and Jeff is tough because they did so much for the team,” Jackson said. “They were great locker room guys, and they were obviously great for us on the court. That type of leadership isn’t easy to replace. In my opinion, we have one of the best starting fives in the league.
“My job is going to be to come in and try and steady the ship as much as I can when I’m in the game. I think the young guys are going to be very fun to play with. There is a lot of talent in that locker room. As a second unit, we have to make sure that we are able to keep things rolling.”
With a little over a month to go before training camp, Jackson’s days are spent in the gym, working on his shot, working to prepare for the grind ahead. His days are also spent in the weight room. He’s the owner of a new contract, a sure sign of confidence in him from the Nuggets’ front office. He takes nothing for granted now, especially at 33 years old, more than a decade into his NBA career. A few years ago, Jackson was a playoff monster for the Clippers and had a big hand in the franchise reaching its first-ever Western Conference Finals. And then, after a trade, he found himself out of a playoff rotation.
It’s to Jackson’s credit how he handled it. He never pouted. He simply controlled what he could. He kept a smile on his face. He helped the locker room. But, make no mistake, this is a chance for him individually to show that he’s still a rotation-level player on a great team. So, for as much as he could be important to the Nuggets as a team, this season is important to him personally.
“It doesn’t feel like year whatever,” Jackson said. “It really feels like year six or seven. I thought we were going to win a lot of championships in OKC. It’s all been such a blur. It’s just a realization to how fast life moves. I think that’s been my biggest takeaway getting older. The days just kind of fly by, so you have to do your best to make them count.”