We were all sad to learn that former NBA commissioner David Stern passed away yesterday at age 77. 1 former college player/coach who had a special connection to the commish was Stu Jackson: after playing at Oregon in the 1970s and coaching at Wisconsin in the 1990s he joined the NBA’s front office and had the opportunity to work with Stern for several years. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Mr. Jackson a few years ago about his former job with Stern and his current job as the Executive Associate Commissioner for Big East Men’s Basketball.
In the 1975 NIT as a player at Oregon you had a 1-PT loss to eventual champion Princeton: how close did you come to pulling out the win? Judging by the score we were pretty close! Back then the NIT truly was a prestigious tourney because there were only 32 teams who made the NCAA tourney. Princeton coach Pete Carril had a team featuring Armond Hill, who was an All-American.
You later worked for Rick Pitino as head recruiting coordinator at Providence and assistant coach of the Knicks: what made Pitino such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? I credit Rick with teaching me my craft. He gave me the tools and understanding of how to coach a basketball team. As great a coach as he was back then, he was generous in his ability to delegate to his staff. Those of us who worked for him really learned from him because he allowed us to share in the preparation of games and let us take responsibility for the team. He is 1 of the brightest individuals I have ever been around. The thing that people do not always recognize is his ability to innovate and try new things. He was 1 of the 1st coaches to understand the value of making 3-PT shots. He understood the math that showed it was advantageous to take threes if you could make enough of them. His best attribute is that he is a great motivator of young men.
In the 1987 NCAA tourney Billy Donovan had 25 PTS/7 AST in a 3-PT OT win over Austin Peay: how were you able to overcome a 10-PT deficit with 6 minutes left in regulation? I remember Rick’s talk to the team at halftime. We were heavily favored but not playing particularly well and Rick was very vocal. The stroke of genius is that he went after Billy just as he would go after anyone on the team. He was fair with every player but was upset with the entire team. The effort and execution was there in the 2nd half and we eventually prevailed. I almost got fired during that game due to a mistake about keeping track of statistics such as individual fouls. Steve Wright committed his 4th foul in the 2nd half…but I thought it was just his 3rd. Rick turned to me and said, “If you have a job tomorrow it will be a miracle!” Thank god we went on to win the game.
In 1989 you were named head coach of the Knicks: did you feel you were ready to become the then 2nd-youngest head coach in NBA history at age 33? Fortunately I was young enough that I did not know any better. I felt very confident in my ability to transition from assistant coach to head coach in terms of all the technical aspects, but I do not know if anyone is ready to coach an NBA team at age 33: ignorance is bliss.
You fell behind 2-0 in the 1st round of the 1990 NBA playoffs to Boston, then won 3 straight games to win the series: how were you able to bounce back after giving up a playoff-record 157 PTS to Boston in Game 2? The only way we bounced back was through a stroke of luck. We got our doors blown off in the 2nd half of Game 2 but fortunately we had 2 days before Game 3. We took the 1st day to exhale and get ourselves together mentally and get some rest, and on the 2nd day we had 1 of our best practices of the year. We were able to put the loss behind us and focus on trying to win the next game after Larry Bird missed a 3-PT shot that would have won it. It gave us some confidence going into Game 4, which we won, and then we had Game 5 in Boston. History was not on our side: the Knicks had not won a playoff game in Boston in decades. It was probably 100 degrees inside the old Garden and we played a great defensive game. We were a much younger team than the Celtics and were able to wear them down.
In the 1994 NCAA tourney as coach at Wisconsin, Michael Finley/Rashard Griffith each scored 22 PTS in an 8-PT win over Cincinnati: how big a deal was it to win the school’s 1st tourney game since 1947? Just getting to the tourney was a huge accomplishment, much less winning a game against Coach Bob Huggins. Our team was extremely focused in our preparation and we really excelled defensively. We were not known for basketball back then so at some level we helped put the program on the map.
In July of 1994 you were the very 1st person hired by the Vancouver Grizzlies after the franchise was formed and then spent the next 6 years as president/GM: what is it like to start a team from scratch, and what was the hardest part? I took the job because I was intrigued by the enormous challenge. It is 1 thing to start a franchise, much less to do it in a foreign city that did not know a lot about the NBA. We had to integrate the team into the community and educate everyone so that we could sell the NBA-mandated minimum level of 10,000 tickets. We went through the expansion draft and the regular draft and it was a heck of an accomplishment thanks to a lot of people.
In June of 2007 you became Executive VP of Basketball Operations for the NBA: how did you like the job, and what was it like working with Commissioner David Stern? I became a Senior VP in 2000 before being promoted in 2007. I have been very lucky to work with some people who are the best in the game of basketball like Pitino and Stern. David was an unbelievably great leader and marketer of the game. He had an intuitive sense of what the game was about and a vision for how he wanted it to look. My staff and I were able to help shape the game that you see today, and most of that was due to David’s vision.
In 2014 you were hired by the Big East to be senior associate commissioner for men’s basketball: why did you take the job, and what do you think of the conference? I took the job for 2 reasons. I took some time off after leaving the NBA to just look at the landscape and decide what I wanted to do. I had a few different options but the Big East appealed to me because I wanted to work with its commissioner (Val Ackerman) who I had known for many years. It made sense for me personally and professionally, especially after they moved their offices to NYC. I saw 10 teams under a new structure in a development stage back then but we have good players and great coaches/rivalries with basketball-only schools. I think we are 1 of the strongest leagues in the country, which is a credit to our players/coaches.
What do you hope to do in the future? Right now I am totally immersed in making sure the Big East maintains its status as 1 of the best in the country so I do not want to look too far ahead.