The Golden State Warriors suspended disgruntled forward Stephen Jackson(notes) on Saturday for two games after he cursed at coach Don Nelson during a preseason game the previous night, two NBA sources said.

The Warriors announced the suspension prior to Saturday’s preseason game against the Phoenix Suns in Indian Wells, Calif., and said in a statement that Jackson was being punished for “conduct detrimental to the team.”

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Jackson’s confrontation with Nelson came after he committed five fouls and a technical in less than 10 minutes of the Warriors’ victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. In addition to yelling at an official, Jackson also became agitated after exchanging words with Lakers guard Kobe Bryant(notes), a source said.

After Jackson left the game with 2:40 left in the first quarter, his meltdown culminated on the sideline when he barked at Nelson, a scene one source described as “very ugly.” Nelson responded by sending Jackson to the locker room for the remainder of the game.

Jackson, who has served as the Warriors’ captain, has simmered all preseason after announcing he wanted a trade from the franchise. The NBA later fined him $25,000 for his comments. Jackson didn’t back away from his trade request during the team’s media day.

“I don’t have a regret about anything I’ve done,” Jackson said at the time.

Jackson, 31, is expected to lose about $150,000 in salary for the two-game suspension. He didn’t make Saturday’s trip and also will miss Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Warriors gave Jackson a three-year extension worth $28 million last season. Including this season, he has four years and about $35 million left on his contract, making him difficult, but not impossible, to trade.

The Warriors have received some interest for Jackson, but nothing they consider fair value, the source said. One reported proposal had Golden State talking with the Cleveland Cavaliers about center Zydrunas Ilgauskas(notes), but the source downplayed the chances of the deal actually happening now, calling it “remote.”

For Warriors, turmoil starts with the boss

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_yl...yhoo&type=lgns

With such imperfection, such an uneven past for Stephen Jackson(notes), the twisted sensibilities of his Golden State Warriors owner should’ve suggested Chris Cohan would develop a deep affection for his star. He showered Jax with a needless contract extension of $28 million, a captainship and ultimately the organizational manual on manipulation and petulance.

The worst owner in the NBA is seldom seen or heard, preferring to let a slobbering run of incompetence shape the face of his legacy. From front-office folly to combustible stars, Cohan has lorded over one embarrassing episode after another in his 15-year Donald Sterling-esque run as majority owner.

Captain Jack watched franchise legend and general manager Chris Mullin get pushed out of his job, and witnessed coach Don Nelson get his buddy Larry Riley the office. Jackson watched Nelson take a rich contract extension and practically give up coaching a season ago, turning over most duties to his assistants.

Mostly, Jackson watched the way it worked with the Warriors. He’s no dummy. The Machiavellians have always reigned here, always prospered. He just learned the way it works, and he’s making it work for him with an exit strategy of belligerence.

Make no mistake: Management will make Jack the boogeyman now because there’s always a bad guy here. From Chris Webber(notes) to Latrell Sprewell, Mullin to P.J. Carlesimo, Baron Davis(notes) to Jackson, there’s always a fall guy for Cohan and his meddling, overmatched president, Bobby Rowell. Jackson isn’t innocent, but he sure beat the Warriors. Jax wants out and he’ll make life hell for the Warriors until he gets his wish.

Jackson flipped on Friday night in Los Angeles when Nellie let him stay on the floor to pick up five fouls and a technical inside of 10 minutes. Jax was at wit’s end when he started clinging close to Kobe Bryant(notes). One source on the court says Kobe addressed Jax as “Young Fella,” and for some odd reason that pushed Jackson over the edge. Soon, Jackson was cursing Nellie and storming to the locker room on his way to a two-game preseason suspension.

The residue of a historic season two years ago – the biggest upset in NBA playoff history – has washed away. Mullin was the executive responsible for returning the Warriors to the playoffs for the first time in 13 years, and his reward was getting bum-rushed by Rowell and Nelson, whom he hired off his hammock in Maui.

Jackson is the story with Golden State now, but he isn’t the issue.

Before the Warriors turn this franchise over to a marvelous rookie guard, Stephen Curry(notes), and a promising 7-footer, Anthony Randolph(notes), Cohan should stop sputtering with overtures to sell the Warriors and do everyone a favor: Sell now.

The bid of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has been out there, but details of another intriguing offer to buy the Warriors has emerged, several sources told Yahoo! Sports. There is a well-moneyed and politically connected Bay Area group that has approached Cohan about purchasing the team and building a privately funded arena in downtown San Francisco. What’s more, the group has already had third parties call several well-respected NBA front-office executives about running the team.

As for Ellison, sources say he knows what the Warriors are worth in his mind and he isn’t inclined to raise the offer Cohan has already rejected. The Warriors and NBA deny the team is for sale, but as one official with knowledge of the bids says, while Cohan “can go hot and cold,” the San Jose Mercury News’ reports over the summer were accurate. It’s just a matter of time until he sells.

For everyone’s sake, the sooner, the better. The Warriors are endemic of a bigger problem in the NBA: bad ownership draining good markets. The Bay Area has been so loyal to that lousy basketball team. When they finally ended a run of 12 seasons without playoff basketball in 2007, Oracle Arena delivered an unparalleled atmosphere. Now, the Warriors are left with Nellie, a great coach, but ill-suited so late in life for such a young team. Those Warriors were a remarkable story, an unforgettable testament to Nellie’s small-ball acumen, but were reflective of the owner’s tenure: never built to last.

Cohan and Rowell have this habit of falling into love with the wrong coaches and players, and Nellie should’ve returned to Hawaii once they broke up this team and decided to go young. Golden State is where great young talent comes to stagnate. As Stephen Jackson pushes his way out now, the cycle of rising young talent will take over another Warriors lottery team. Once and for all, the owner should spare everyone the inevitable fate of his basketball incompetence.

The suitors are lining up for this franchise, and it’s time: Sell the Warriors, Cohan. Sell them now.

-According to a highly-placed NBA source, Stephen Jackson’s two-game suspension was the result of a multi-stage confrontation with Don Nelson during Friday’s game in Los Angeles.

First, as Jackson was in the process of picking up five fouls in about nine minutes guarding Kobe Bryant–and not getting pulled by Nelson–a seething Jackson screamed that he was sick and tired of receiving no support from the Warriors (or Nelson).

At this point, Jackson was presumably referring to Nelson not standing up for Jackson with the replacement referees, or not taking him out when he was in obvious foul trouble.

The source said that Jackson’s fury was understood to include the bigger picture–that the Warriors weren’t supporting him with promised player additions and maybe that Nelson wasn’t supporting him, generally. (Of course, Jackson has publicly asked to be traded and has yet not been traded.)

That outburst, alone, would not have gotten Jackson suspended.

But, according to the source, the more serious incident occurred moments later, when Nelson was trying to calm Jackson down.


Nelson told Jackson to head back to the locker room, take a shower and cool down.

Nelson apparently also put his hand on Jackson at the same time, to settle the situation (he thought).

Jackson immediately roughly brushed off Nelson’s hand, and, according to the source, told him loudly never to do that again and included many more angry words directed at Nelson.

Jackson went to the locker room and stayed there, apparently without further incident. But Warriors management apparently was concerned enough to keep Jackson away from Nelson for at least a few hours.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- "Captain Jack" is no longer.

Disgruntled Golden State swingman Stephen Jackson asked to relinquish his captain title during a meeting Tuesday with Warriors coach Don Nelson and general manager Larry Riley.

Nelson accepted on the heels of Jackson's two-game suspension for an outburst at the coach early in Friday's preseason game against the Lakers in Los Angeles.

Jackson, who has asked to be traded, acknowledged he didn't think Nelson and the coaching staff were supporting him with the referees in a physical matchup with Kobe Bryant.

Jackson, the Warriors' leading scorer last season, picked up five fouls and a technical in less than 10 minutes and was sent to the locker room by Nelson following a testy exchange.

Stephen Jackson, on Nelson: "If my mom took some $$, I'd still love her to death, but I'd be upset-and he's not my mom"

Posted by Tim Kawakami on October 13th, 2009 at 4:40 pm | Categorized as NBA, Warriors

"Well, the prodigal son has returned," Don Nelson said dryly after today's practice.

And Stephen Jackson, Mr. Prodigal, was typically unrepentant about his outburst, which led to a 2-game suspension, which ended today.

After what sounded like a terse meeting with Nelson and Larry Riley, then a long practice, running once again with the first team, Jackson spoke at length and colorfully about his current feelings.

He again stopped short of saying the words "trade me" but left no doubt he wants out more than ever. Now there's a massive chill in his relationship with Nelson, and SJax maintained his right to continue to speak his mind, and, of course, possibly keep getting fined and suspended.

The headlines:

* Jackson asked to be dropped as a captain, which Nelson agreed to. Jackson explained that he didn't want to be responsible for the younger players, and, anyway, "being a captain is overrated to me."

* Jackson repeated what he told Marcus Thompson II last night: He was furious Friday night when he felt Kobe Bryant was playing dirty and he felt his coaches didn't stand up for him with the replacement referees. That got him mad, as he picked up 5 fast fouls, then Nelson told him to leave the floor.

(I've reported that Nelson touched Jackson while trying to calm him down, which elicited the major flare-up and drew the suspension.)

* Asked if he could say there would be no further blow-ups, Jackson said: "I don't know. We'll have to wait and see. I can't predict the future."

* Asked how much longer this stand-off could continue, Jackson said: "You tell me. I don't know… Hopefully it doesn't go on long."

* I asked him if he thought this could turn into a Tinsley-Marbury situation, where the Warriors would send him away indefinitely, and Jackson said: "If they want to send me home and pay me, I'm fine with that."

What about a buy-out? Would he consider that? "It has to be right… I doubt that's an option (for the Warriors)."

There's no question-not in Jackson's mind and I would presume not in the Warriors' mind-that this is not the end of the volatility. Jackson's not backing down.

He said he has to listen to Nelson as a coach, on the floor, but won't listen to him any more about non-game-related issues.

Maybe Warriors management feels it can just keep fining and suspending him, and the chaos will eventually wear SJax down and he'll be a good solider until they can get something of value for him.

I think it's the other way around-that he's destined to outlast them, and they'll have to give him away for a bare glimmer of his true value.

But that's just mean ol' me.

Nelson complained that the Jackson distraction was covering up how well the Warriors were playing in pre-season. Yeah, a couple of exhibition wins surely mean a run to 55 wins is dead ahead.

To the SJax's words…
-STEPHEN JACKSON transcript/
-Q: Nelson said you asked not to be a captain any more.

-JACKSON: Yeah.

-Q: You think that's what's best now?

-JACKSON: Yeah, that's just the way I feel.

-Q: Why was that your decision?

-JACKSON: That was just the way I feel. That's just the way I feel. Don't try to dig into it. That's just how I feel.

-Q: Can you tell us about this morning's meeting with Nelson and Riley?

-JACKSON: I mean, it was a meeting. No different than any other meeting. I go in, listen to what they've got to say and come back and play basketball. Whether I pay attention to it or not, that depends on me.

But I had to show up. I showed up.

-Q: Still looking to get traded?

-JACKSON: You know I can't answer that question. If you all don't want me to get fined, don't ask me those types of questions.

-Q: Did you have some things to say to them, as well?

-JACKSON: Yeah, I told 'em. That was for me and them to know. That's not for me to share with everybody.

-Q: Did you think about appealing your suspension?

-JACKSON: No, I mean, it is what it is. It ain't the first time I lost money. I lost $3 million on the fight. So it is what it is.

I didn't agree with it, if that's what you want to hear. I definitely didn't agree with it. If anybody saw the game, you saw how I got handled out there. I got treated wrong, no question. But it is what it is.

I can't force them to give me money back or get the two games back, so I'm going to deal with it.

-Q: Did you feel like you had your coach's support during Friday's game?

-JACKSON: If I would've felt that way, I wouldn't have blew up.

-Q: Is it tough to come back to the team today?

-JACKSON: No, because this is how ignore everything, all the questions, all the stuff from the coaches and everybody. This is how I get away from it. I had a good two days off with my wife, went to the zoo, had a good time. And I've got to come out here, just play basketball.

I've got to still continue to work on my game, continue to be the best player I can be, regardless of what's going on.

-Q: Have you talked to your teammates about it?

-JACKSON: I talked to them all, of course, that I didn't want to be a captain. I told them all that. I mean, they understand that. At the end of the day, my teammates know that when it's time to play, I'm going to play.

That's all I care about right now is playing basketball and representing myself well on the court. Whether I'm getting mistreated or not, I've still got to go out there and play basketball.

-Q: Can you play your best in this kind of situation?

-JACKSON: Yeah, I've done it many times, when the odds were against me. When I came here and everybody said it was a bad trade, he's a bad guy, he's a thug, and look at what I helped this organization do.

So I love adversity. I make love to pressure. I love it.

-Q: Has your relationship with Nelson changed?

-JACKSON: Of course. Any time somebody takes a 100-something, 150 thousand dollars, of course it's going to change, no matter who it is. If my mom took some money, I'd still love her to death but I'd still be upset about it.

And he's not my mom. So you can imagine how I feel.

-Q: When you left the game, was it your decision to go and stay in the locker room or was it your coach's?

-JACKSON: It was the coach's decision. I hate that they're putting it out on TV that I just walked off the court. I would never walk off the court during the game. I mean, I've never done that in my life.

Coach told me to go to the locker room and I didn't agree him telling me because I thought I was getting mistreated wrong on the court.

But I went to the locker room with no problem. I didn't say nothing bad to the fans. Didn't shoot no finger or nothing. I just walked to the locker room. I don't know why people are making a big deal out of it.

I'm sure I'm not the first to get sent to the locker room.

-Q: Who told you about the suspension?

-JACKSON: Uh, I wasn't answering my phone, so they had to call my agent. He told me. I wasn't answering my phone for nobody.

-Q: Is it uncomfortable out here with your teammates?

-JACKSON: No, it ain't them. It's not them. I can't blame them for anything that's going on. I'm a man, I take responsibility for everything I've said, for everything I've done. And for my actions in the game with Kobe, yeah, I'll do it again if he elbowed me. No question. That's just me. I'll deal with it. I'm a man.

But it is what it is. I said it, I did it, I got suspended, I got fined. I'm still here.

-Q: Is it uncomfortable out here with the coach?

-JACKSON: Really, it isn't. I just have to listen. I have to give that respect to listen to him when he's coaching. So I'm going to give him that, you know what I'm saying?

But as far as being off the court, I don't listen. I've got to listen to him on the court and that's it, and I'm going to give him that respect.

-Q: Is it realistic to think that this will never happen again?

-JACKSON: I don't know, we'll have to wait and see. I can't predict the future.

-Q: How long can this go on?

-JACKSON: You tell me. I don't know.

-Q: Not too much longer, I wouldn't think…

-JACKSON: I mean, I can't control how long it goes on. Hopefully it doesn't go on long. But while I'm here, I've got to represent myself well on the court and play basketball and do what I have to do.

I can't tell you a timetable. I wish I had an answer. Because maybe I could sleep better.

-Q: Do you think they're trying to find ways to get to you?

-JACKSON: Uh… I don't know. I hope that's not the case. I hope they're not trying to have somebody to point the finger at. I can't say it is.

But I'm just a different guy. I speak my mind, you know what I mean? I don't bite my tongue for no one, whether you pay me or not, I'm not going to bite my tongue. I'm going to respect you, but I have the freedom of speech and I can't say what I want to say, if it ends up being a fine, then I have to deal with it.

It's coming out of my pocket, not nobody else's. I'm going to be a man and ain't nobody going to change that.

-Q: Do you realize how hard it is to trade you now or do you think it's not that tough?

-JACKSON: I don't think it's hard. I know there's a lot of teams that want me. I'm a good player. It's not like I can't play the game. It's not like I haven't done-like teams that weren't winning, I didn't get them to a winning attitude. It's not like I wasn't a big part of winning a championship.

I can play the game. I don't know exactly what the conversations are, but I don't think it's as hard as those people say it is.

-Q: Do you think this suspension hurts when other teams are looking at you?

-JACKSON: I'm not even concerned about other teams looking at me, because I can't control all that. I'm a Warrior now, I've got to play basketball. If they want to look at me, that's up to them. If they want me to play for them, that's up to them.

But right now, I'm a Warrior, I've got to continue to play for the Warriors and that's what I've got to do. I'm not even worried about getting traded at all. I can't think about that and doing my job has been making me crazy and making me say things that people don't like. Which I can care less.

-Q: Why don't you want to be a captain any more?

-JACKSON: Because I don't want these young guys to try to follow me. I'm not a role model. I can't be a role model to guys that make the same amount of money as me, you know what I mean?

We're all in the NBA. I don't want to be a role model. Control your own game and what you do. I don't blame… any time I get suspended, I don't come and blame it on coaches or nobody. I man up and take it as me saying it and being responsible for it. I think everybody should be responsible for how they play the game, how they get themselves prepared and how they play.

Don't look at me to get you going, don't look at me to get the team going. I think everybody needs to be responsible for getting themselves ready to play.

-Q: Do you think this could turn into a Tinsley-Marbury situation (where the player is sent away from the team indefinitely)?

-JACKSON: I mean, if they want to send me home and pay me, I'm fine with that. No question. I'm fine with that.

-Q: But you said how much you love the game…

-JACKSON: I do.

-Q: But you wouldn't be playing…

-JACKSON: If they decide to send me home and pay me, I'll still be playing basketball somewhere. That's not going to stop. This is not the only team in the NBA, if they send me home.

-Q: Do you think your leadership role changes?

-JACKSON: We'll see. I was still in the starting five today, so obviously… I look at it like this: Morrow's been playing well, and he should play. If they decide to sit me down and play him, I'm fine with it. I mean, what can I do about it? I can't tell coach to play me.

I'm not even going to get into that, getting into the back and forth, because as you see, that's something I can't win. I'm not going to do anything but keep losing money. So I said what I had to say, everybody knows how I feel and I've got to leave it alone.

It's not like I'm going to go back and change my statements. I'm not going back and taking anything back and I'm not apologizing for nothing.

-Q: How did it go from signing the extension less than a year ago to here?

-JACKSON: A lot of things happened. A lot of things behind the scenes happened. A lot of things I said rubbed people the wrong way. But it is what it is. We all have to deal with it. At the end of the day, I have to play basketball for this organization and that's what I'm going to do.

-Q: Do you think the Warriors did a lot of good things for you?

-JACKSON: I can say yeah they have, no question. I'm not going to sit up here and say they've just fined me and just treated me bad. No, they've done a lot of good things for me. But I think I've done a lot in return. I don't think nobody's given me nothing I didn't deserve. I worked just as hard as anybody else.

-Q: Did you watch the last two games?

-JACKSON: No, I didn't. I looked at the final stats at the end of the game to see how well guys were playing and called guys before they got on the plane, told them good game, way to play. But I was at the zoo with my wife, went out to eat. I enjoyed my days off, no question.

-Q: If it came down to it, would you consider a buy out?

-JACKSON: It has to be right. It has to be right. I mean, it has to be right. That's something they would talk to with my agent and he would get back to me about. But I doubt they'd do that. I doubt that's an option.

-Q: It hasn't been brought up?

-JACKSON: Naw, uh-hu. I doubt that happens.

-Q: Can you not be Capt Jack on this team?

-JACKSON: I mean, being a captain was overrated to me, anyway. You didn't do anything but go at the beginning to talk to the refs, and I didn't want to do that. Being a captain is overrated.

I'm still going to go out there and be real vocal, play my game with a lot of energy and a lot of intensity. One thing, regardless of what's going on with me and coach, when I step on the court, I'm going to give him my all. That's no question. I'm going to give this organization my all when I'm on the court. But at the same time, how I feel is how I feel and can't nobody change that.

But I'm still going to me on the court regardless of I'm a captain or not. Being a captain didn't make me play hard or make me make shots. That was just a title. Like I said, that's overrated.

-Q: You were pretty happy when they made you captain, though, weren't you?

-JACKSON: Yeah, because when I was a captain, it was big to me because I think everybody comes into the game expecting to be a leader of a team.

But as BD left, as Al left, I started to get more uncomfortable with our team. I'm allowed to have my own feelings. The things we did that year when we beat Dallas was exciting and something I wanted to be a part of and it seems like it just dwindled down since then.

-Q: Do you feel like you'd repaired your image and now it's tarnished again?

-JACKSON: No, no. If I tarnished the image to anybody, it's to people that don't know me. A lot of good stuff I do is never on TV. I just see you all when I say something that's interesting. Nobody was there this summer when I fed 800 families in front of my school. Went to feed the children. Nobody was there for that.

But everybody's here when I'm getting into it with coach and getting fined. It really doesn't matter to me. I'm going to continue to be the same person. The people who I take care of and my wife, they all know me as a person.

Even the media guys here, Dan and Ray, they'll tell you. I'm a good person. But I'm going to speak my mind and a lot of people don't do that.