Source: MediaNews Group/Bay Area News via Getty Images / Getty
Mark Jackson’s speaking out about his “flailing” job prospects and calling it all cap.
Yesterday, the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand ran a story that says Jackson, a former ESPN commentator and NBA player, was set to back legendary Knick Clyde Frazier in the MSG booth this season, but at the last minute, the team pulled out.
Marchand claims that Jackson wanted to travel on the Knicks charter plane, but team president Leon Rose didn’t allow it, so the deal fell through.
Hours later, Jackson took to Instagram to tell his side of the story, saying he’s the one who turned down the MSG job because it logistically wasn’t ideal for him.
“Come on, man. Come on. At some point, the lies have to stop,” he begins. “The lies have got to stop. I’ve sat back year after year after year, listening to lies, questioning me as a man and my integrity for what I stand for, what I was raised on. That’s been questioned. I sat back and didn’t say anything.”
He adds that he was never let go from calling games and saluted Frazier.
“Today, a report came out that I was fired or dismissed from calling Knicks games,” Jackson said. “Honored and privileged to have an offer bestowed upon me to back up the legend Walt Clyde Frazier calling Knicks games. Over a week ago, I turned that job down. You heard what I said: More than a week ago, I turned the job down due to the fact that it wasn’t the ideal conditions, and it wasn’t the ideal time for me.”
The Brooklyn native and St. John’s University alum still feels the importance of the Knicks to the city’s basketball culture and is leaving the door open for future possibilities.
“You never know what the future holds,” he continued. “They say once a Knick, always a Knick, I bleed a side of me blue and orange. I dreamt of playing for the Knicks. I dreamt of calling games for the Knicks. It would’ve been a dream accomplished, but it just didn’t work out.
Jackson credits the New York Post for repeatedly calling him for comment but hoped his lack of response would kill the story.
Elsewhere in the original report, some of those “ideal conditions” Jackson spoke of could also be how stressful road trips would be if he’d taken the gig. He’d reportedly be flying commercial, staying in different hotels than the team and getting to the arena on his own.
See how social media is reacting to Jackson’s beef below.
