# Was Chris Jackson blackballed from the NBA?



## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

I was looking him up recently and found that he is still playing basketball overseas right now as the age of 37 and quickly wondered to myself, he basically was gone from the NBA in 1998 (at the age of 28) then came back for a cup of coffee in 2001 with the Vancouver Grizzlies and then was never heard from again.

Do you think he was blackballed from the NBA? I mean how do guys like Milt Palacio continue to hold jobs in the NBA? 

Do you think it had anything to do with his aversions to saluting the flag and wanting to stay in the locker room during those ceremonies?


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## Chalie Boy (Aug 26, 2002)

I think it has every thing o do with that, he was/is too good of a player to just be out the league at 28 and only get to come back for a stint. Did I miss something? 

Take a look

http://www.basketballreference.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=ABDULMA01


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## RoddneyThaRippa (Jun 28, 2003)

Meh...

maybe. Dan Issel hated the guy, but that could be blamed on his xenophobia. 

I've wondered too sometimes. He was an instant points, and was unstoppable at times. He had some really good years, and even averaged 6.5 points in only 12 minutes in his last year. Prolly my favorite guard of all time.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

If you are good enough then you can be as obnoxious or flaky as you want to be.He was a good player who had a really great season at LSU and some good years in the pros.He wasn't so good that people were willing to put up with anything from him.At any rate 28 isn't young for an NBA player.You get in the league and if you don't find a place really quick then you bounce around.If you don't maintain a very high level of play then they find someone who else.Then of course the teams always want to replace you with someone who doesn't get paid as much.


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## Chalie Boy (Aug 26, 2002)

Diable said:


> If you are good enough then you can be as obnoxious or flaky as you want to be.He was a good player who had a really great season at LSU and some good years in the pros.He wasn't so good that people were willing to put up with anything from him.At any rate 28 isn't young for an NBA player.You get in the league and if you don't find a place really quick then you bounce around.If you don't maintain a very high level of play then they find someone who else.Then of course the teams always want to replace you with someone who doesn't get paid as much.


I see what you are saying another example could be Isiah Rider, but Jackson was not nearly as bad he just had strong beliefs...he also torrets syndrone sp? But like I said he was/is better than some of the guys who manage to stick around the league for much longer....28 isn't THAT old in the NBA, this isn't the NFL man.


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## Gilgamesh (Dec 23, 2005)

Didn't he refuse to come out for the anthem around the time when 9/11 happened? Can't remember when but all I remember was that it was a controversey.

The guy was stellar though in college, considered a bust early in his career, and almost won MIP when he and Mutombo led the Nuggets to their playoff seasons in the mid 90s. But Mahmoud didn't have a real position. He was not tall, strong, or athletic enough to be a SG and didn't have the court vision and passing to be a PG. He was like Mike James. 

I still remember a game when he torched for 50 though and the guy never seemed to miss a FT.


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

No it wasn't around 9/11. His last season was in 2000-2001. Which was before 9/11.


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## FastbreaK (Mar 25, 2006)

Gilgamesh said:


> The guy was stellar though in college, considered a bust early in his career, and almost won MIP when he and Mutombo led the Nuggets to their playoff seasons in the mid 90s.


Chris _did_ win the MIP in 1993. He was a great player in HS at Gulfport, MS and here at LSU. When he converted to Islam he went in a totally different direction. Never the same player again. As far as being blackballed, always thought it was a strong possibility. Still playing ball in Europe.


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## Krstic All-Star (Mar 9, 2005)

He was always a tweener. Good shooter, but only about 6'1. Never ran point well.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

I thought he chose to be out of the NBA.


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## PauloCatarino (May 31, 2003)

futuristxen said:


> I thought he chose to be out of the NBA.


Yeah, thats what i remember.

I could swear that he lost interest n playing ball one time. Then he quit.

A couple years later, he came back. But too much had passed, and he wasn't the same player.


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## Gilgamesh (Dec 23, 2005)

Couldn't remember when it was like I said. 

I just remember it was a controversey.



HKF said:


> No it wasn't around 9/11. His last season was in 2000-2001. Which was before 9/11.


Fastbreak, thanks for clearing that up. I knew he was one of the top candidates but I couldn't remember if he won it or not. I thought Don MacLean won it but that was the previous year now that I think about it.


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## ralaw (Feb 24, 2005)

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf was a bad dude when he was on. As FastbreaK said when he converted to Islam he just went kind of "whoop d woo." Didn't he also have a twitch? I always figured he was either blackballed or due to medical reasons due to the twitch he could no longer play. It's good to see him still in the game.


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## Nate505 (Aug 22, 2003)

Real Sports did a segment on MAR shortly after 9/11. The segment focused on how he was still trying to keep in shape for the league, but it also sort of potrayed him as someone who was sort of borderline into getting into the leauge. Than 9/11 happened, and an agent said he was pretty much unsignable from a PR standpoint by any NBA team, especially because MAR would say things like Jewish people avoided the WTC on that day and other various tin foil hat stuff like that (although I'm not personally making any judgements about his claims). Then the poor guy's house was set on fire by an arsonist, which saddens me.


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## lw32 (May 24, 2003)

I'd put it down to his attitude and disrespect towards the NBA. It was '96 when he was suspended for not standing for the national anthem, not '01.

As someone else mentioned, he didn't have the results to get away with creating so much bad publicity. Isiah Rider was the same, as is Sprewell (to an extent, now it seems he's sick of the NBA), for different reasons though. Comments like "the American flag is a symbol of oppression, of tyranny" didn't help his case either, all in all he's better known for his extreme quotes and actions than his career in the NBA. It's just a matter of respect, acknowledging a national anthem, even if it's not your own.

Now, the NBA will never admit that he was frowned upon, as that would be against freedom of speech, but I think it's evident his actions discouraged teams from signing him later on. He was outspoken, and didn't respect the country in which he had a job. How do you sell that to your teams fanbase? 

He had 2 impressive season at LSU, left for the NBA and never really lived up to the billing. He was extremely skinny too, which didn't help his game develop. His ability to control torrets syndrome was simply amazing though, and he has to be respected for overcoming such adversities.

I wouldn't say he was blackballed by the NBA, as much as teams were not interested in his baggage. The NBA suspended him, but they can't keep him out of the league. I think teams just had enough of him after Sacramento. Once he reached the NBA, he didn't seem as determined as in LSU. He had other focuses, such as Islam, Martial Arts, etc.. He was on the path to becoming a good player out of LSU, then went on a tangent.


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## Rednecksbasketball (Dec 18, 2003)

Well I remember an interview with him when he was with the Grizzlies and he was talking about how him and his family was being terrorized in Mississippi. he mentioned that his brother or brother-in-law was jumpped, their church was firebombed. he said he was playing in Canada because he thought it may be safer. so he could be playing in Europe because he just believes its to unsafe in North America. because he just vanished from the league shortly after the attacks in New York and Washington.


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