Stephen Jackson blames Tony Parker for Spurs' 2012 playoff loss to Thunder
The outspoken shooter has plenty to say about his former teammate
By
Zach Harper
•
3 min read
Former NBA player Stephen Jackson is not one to mince words. He'll say whatever he feels about another player and a lot of the time it's something negative about that player, even if it's a former teammate. Right now, that former teammate is San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker. Jackson played with Parker from 2001-03 on the Spurs and helped them win a championship in 2003. Then he came back to the team in the 2011-12 season to help them with a playoff run. But that run was cut shorter than they planned when they lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals after being up 2-0 in the series.
What was the reason for that loss? Jackson blames Parker for playing selfish basketball and trying to turn the team against him in Game 6 when Jackson was shooting the ball well from outside. That's what he said on the ESPN TrueHoop podcast when he also called Parker a "double agent" with trying to say things about Jackson behind his back.
"You know what? I have. To be honest with you I really think Tony Parker was one of those guys. I just feel like the whole time when I was there, when I had good games, when I was playing well, I felt like Tony was the guy to really go against me, to go behind my back to Pop to play (Manu) Ginobili, to play other guys because he wanted the credit.
"I'm going to give you a perfect example. We was up 2-0 against the Thunder, my last year with the Spurs in (2012). They came back and won three games straight. But game six in OKC, I was having a hell of a game. I had six threes. Me and Kawhi (Leonard) was playing well. At the end of the game, when my six threes and other guys shots got us back in the game, Tony came in the game and tried to save the day and stopped playing team ball. We ended up losing that series. I kind of felt like that while he was on the sidelines, he was over there saying sneaky stuff to players and the coaches about getting back in the game so he can try to get his own personal achievements in the game and that's why we lost. Pop wouldn't say that. But I remember right after the game, me, Kawhi and Tim (Duncan) was sitting down after we lost, he came over there and said 'I should have rode you guys, You all did everything you could.' That's his way of saying I should not have put Tony in the game."
Those are some pretty serious allegations. Parker sacrificing his own team's success 11 years into his career after already winning three championship rings in order to get personal accolades in an elimination game of the conference finals? It doesn't make a lot of sense, but we also weren't in that locker room.
At that time, the Spurs were a complete buzz saw. They won 18 of their last 19 regular-season games, including the final eight in a row. Then they swept the first two rounds of the playoffs and won the first two games of the WCF. They had won 18 straight games before the Thunder finally broke through against them and rattled off four straight victories, including that selfish Game 6 as Jackson says. Jackson was on the Spurs for the majority of the next season but was waived by the team after the deadline for when players can become free agents but still make a postseason roster.
