Stephen Jackson doesn’t seem to have a lot of regrets for his NBA career. The now 47-year-old star captured a championship with the San Antonio Spurs in 2003 and was a part of several memorable teams during his 14-year career. Yet, there is one moment involving Steph Curry that Jackson wishes he could have back, thanks to the benefit of hindsight. Stack revealed what that was on the latest edition of his All The Smoke podcast.
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In 2007, Stack was a member of the Baron Davis-led Golden State Warriors. The squad, known as the “We Believe Warriors,” famously defeated the No. 1-seeded Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs as an 8-seed. However, the team slowly started to dwindle after that, with Jackson eventually asking out after Davis left the Dubs. He would get traded to the Charlotte Bobcats at the beginning of the 2009 season.
Stack only played 59 games for the Warriors in his final season. He and Acie Law were dealt to the Bobcats in exchange for Raja Bell and Vladimir Radmanović.
This means that Jackson missed out on playing alongside future Hall of Famer Steph Curry, who has since led the Dubs to four NBA titles. When this was brought up on All The Smoke, Stack couldn’t help but joke about his unfortunate timing.
“If I would have known he was gonna end up like that mother f***er I would have stayed my a** right there,” he growled to big laughs from the rest of the ATS crew.
Stack can’t blame yourself all too much. While Curry was a lottery pick, he did have a history of ankle injuries when coming onto the team. Not to mention the fact that The Chef was fairly undersized. Very few could have predicted his rise to superstardom.
Still, Jackson does seem to wish that he could have suited up next to Curry. And what a combo they could have made. Stack was a great team leader, but also a big body who could score as easy as he could bump. Pairing him with Curry would have been similar to The Chef’s pairing with Draymond Green except for one thing: Jackson was a much more efficient scorer than Draymond. (No offense Dray).
It’s upsetting that Jackson did miss out on playing with who many consider to be one of the greatest shooters of all time. At this point, Curry is more than even just that. He’ll be on the Mount Rushmore of NBA history simply for how much he influenced the modern NBA.
Stack had a very accomplished career, but who knows how far he could have gone playing alongside the 3-point God.
