Mark Jackson used to coach the Golden State Warriors, and every now and then, he reminds the basketball world of this with a snide remark regarding Stephen Curry, or a bit of thrown shade at a former staff member. Today, he chose to use the D’Angelo Russell to shade his former assistant coach.
Jackson, who has since returned to his post as an ESPN announcer and color commentator, was announcing today’s ABC Sunday Showcase, Rockets vs Thunder, when he made this comment about the D’Angelo Russell/Nick Young situation.
“The good news for [Russell],” Jackson said, “is that he could very well one day be an Associate Head Coach in this league.”
At first glance, it sounds like a random compliment for Russell, though predicting that a player will land an NBA coaching job during his rookie season could be considered jumping the gun. At second glance, it became very clear–especially to co-announcer Jeff Van Gundy–that Jackson was shading his former assistant coach, Darren Erman, who was fired from the Warriors in 2014 for recording conversations between players and coaches. Naturally, Jackson was drawing a comparison to the much more highly publicized incident involving D’Angelo Russell, who has been mercilessly prosecuted by the court of public opinion all week after he recorded Nick Young talking about cheating on fiancee Iggy Azalea. The recording found its way to the internet last week, though Russell maintains that didn’t happen by his hand.
Jackson’s shade seems accurate. After being fired from the Warriors, Erman immediately landed two more jobs, one with the Celtics immediately after, and a coaching job with the Pelicans this past season.
“@KennyDucey: Mark Jackson on D'Angelo Russell: pic.twitter.com/LKCs7SeAYh”??
— Bobby Cameron (@BobbyCameron2) April 3, 2016
