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When you think of the greatest point guards to ever play in the NBA, one name you have to mention when it's all said and done is Russell Westbrook. The former MVP and future Hall of Famer has added to his extensive resume with his most recent history-making feat. Westbrook has surpassed two legendary point guards on the NBA's all-time assist list, Steve Nash and Mark Jackson, and now sits alone at No. 5 with 10,343 assists. He passed those greats during the Sacramento Kings' game against the San Antonio Spurs on March 17. He moved Nash and Jackson down to No. 6 and 7, respectively. Westbrook made history after dishing a pass inside to Kings rookie center Maxime Raynaud, who made a 6-foot push shot with 5:00 remaining in the second quarter.
NBA Communications: Sacramento's Russell Westbrook is closing in on the top five on the NBA’s all-time assists list. He needs: • 2 AST to pass Mark Jackson (No. 6) • 3 AST to pass Steve Nash (No. 5) The Kings host the Spurs tonight at 10 PM ET on NBA League Pass.
![[Myers] was always telling me, ‘You get paid for the …](https://sportsdata.usatoday.com/gcdn/content-pipeline-sports-images/sports2/nba/players/468895.png?format=png8&auto=webp&quality=85,75&width=140)
“Pete Myers -- I'm sure you know Pete Myers, he was an assistant coach my first two years under Mark Jackson -- he used to tell me a couple of things,” Green told Bayless. “He would say, ‘Hey, Draymond, a couple of things I want you to always remember in this league -- as long as you're dealing with this league, you owe it to the game to leave it in a better place than it was when you found it.’ “And he said, ‘You get paid in this league for the next young guy to get paid.’ It's so often in this league [that] you hear guys complaining about, ‘Oh, man, this young guy is now making this,’ or you hear how an older guy tried to crush a younger guy, and it derails a young guy's career. And [Myers] was always telling me, ‘You get paid for the next young guy in this league to come along to get paid.’”
Q. There was a moment they were they could have traded Stephen Curry. They were going to choose between him and Monta Ellis. Anthony Morrow: Yeah. Q. Was the belief when you were in practices, was the energy like, they fully have bought into Steph or was it kind of like we don't know, it's a little wobbly, like do they believe in him? I know Mark Jackson eventually did, but what was it like those early years? Was it like you could tell that he's kind of like a trial run with them or was it like he's the face of this franchise? Anthony Morrow: Day one. They started him first game of the season against Houston. He played well. It's like he had like 17, but he had like a terrible turnover that lost the game. And like I remember all the vets like he ain't ready to play, he ain't this, he ain't that. I'm like Don Nelson is not turning his back on him. He chose him. He's not turning his back, and it was just part of the game. Like in the process, in the journey. I was like, he turned his back on this boy, man. The way he played, Don was opening him up like play yourself like you did at Davidson, and it is what it is and I remember the whole sh*t going on with him and Monta, well it wasn't him and Monta, it was like the media and everybody else and Monta, with Steph and Monta, and I mean Monta is a hell of a player bro, he was super underrated, still my guy, he was cold and I think that the way they played they had, was too small of a back court for back then.
Mark Jackson on Nikola Jokic: He’s climbing the charts on the all-time great list. You look at him and you playing, then you look at the stats, you're like, "This guy has what?" And he does it every single night. He's playing at his own pace with his own style. And it's truly poetry in motion. When you think about the greatest players and the greatest centers, you thought that it was a lock for five best centers or the six best centers. He's in not in the discussion, he's already in the group. He's in the group and confidently in the group and moving guys out that we thought would never be moved out.
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Rich Kleiman: You miss coaching, commentating more, you think? Mark Jackson: I would say coaching. And the reason why I would say that because when I'm commentating, I'm commentating what's taking place on the court. When I'm coaching, I'm impacting lives and I'm making a difference and I'm giving birth to something that I may not be able to be part of it when it's over with, but I'm able to identify and say not just look at Steph Curry, the four-time champ. No, look at Steph Curry, the man, the husband, the father. I take pride in that. There are certain guys and I'm 60 years old I still call them coach and I'll never call him Rick Pitino. That’s coach Pitino to me. Rick Pitino is the best coach I ever played for. And I say that with respect. I don't play 17 years. I don't win rookie of the year. I don't go to an All-Star game. I don't have all any of those things if Rick Pitino is not the first coach I ever played for. The dude had me believing I was better than Magic Johnson. I'm on the court believing I'm Magic. I know I'm not better than Magic Johnson, but if you put me on the lie detector test, I would have passed it because he instilled something in me that I'll forever be grateful.
He also became just the fourth rookie since 1977–78 to record consecutive games of at least 15 points and 10 assists while committing one or fewer turnovers, joining Ben Simmons, Raymond Felton, and Mark Jackson. Each of those guards went on to become full-time NBA starters, underscoring the historical weight of Nembhard’s accomplishment.
Michael Scotto: Russell Westbrook is the eighth player in NBA history with 10,000+ assists. He joins John Stockton, Chris Paul, Jason Kidd, LeBron James, Steve Nash, Mark Jackson, and Magic Johnson. Westbrook and LeBron James are the only two NBA players with 25,000+ points and 10,000+ assists.
Etan Thomas: I see other coaches of a of a lighter hue, okay, I'll stay like that, that get opportunity after opportunity after opportunity. And they don't have the resume that you have… Eddie Jordan: And they include their sons on their staffs and everything else. Thomas: And so I'm just looking at it and I agree with the people who I was speaking to at Wegman's. I haven't heard your name come up or Mark Jackson's name come up when there are different openings. And I feel like I should be hearing your name come up. I think that you have built the resume for you to always be getting interviewed at least when new positions open. And just looking back at everything that you and people don't understand everything that you had to deal with when we was with the Wizards and we could talk about… Jordan: It's coming out a little bit. Thomas: There was a lot that you had to deal with and it didn't take away from the winning. Like we were still going to the playoffs every year if it wasn't for coming up against a young LeBron James for those three years straight, we would have even gone further.
LeBron James: When did you figure out what you're doing on the floor is transcending a whole generation of players? Stephen Curry: when Trae Young came in the league and that was like the first person who they said was like the next me, even though he's a different player and I knew him when he was in high school, that was like the first time you're like one, I'm getting a little older with these kids that are watching you, who are now emulating their their game after the way that you play or like there's now expectations on said person to be you or play like you. That might be the first time I thought about it or really experienced like what the impact was. But I got that ‘you-ruined-the-game’ question all the time after Mark Jackson said it and now it's kind of tongue-in-cheek just cuz you understand there is an influence and now it's about how you can allow kids to hear the story about the entire journey and not just the finished product.
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Stephen Curry has two more seasons on his current contract. Kerr, who is not seeking an in-season extension, only has one year left. The question is presented to Curry: Could he play for another coach? "I played for Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] twice at the world championships," Curry said. "Mark Jackson. Keith Smart." Curry took the question literally. Could he? Yes. "The game would translate," he said. But would he? "I don't want to," Curry said. "We deserve that, I feel. Things change in this league. We can only control so much. But I think we're in a very unique situation that we deserve the opportunity [to ride it out]."
ESPN’s finals crew has been in flux for years since it fired Breen’s longtime analysts, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson, in the summer of 2023. ESPN had company-wide layoffs, and part of the network’s reasoning for singling out Van Gundy and Jackson was because of their perceived continued desire to coach, according to sources briefed on the move. The NBA was not a fan of Van Gundy criticizing officials, according to those sources.
After Brown held his introductory press conference on Tuesday, Jackson sent a cryptic message on Instagram. "You're more than qualified, your resume says you're more than qualified, your body of work says you're more than qualified, so it's easy to get depressed," Jackson said. "It's easy to get discouraged, it's easy to get down, it's easy to have doubt and start questioning. I don't know who I'm talking to. "You even prayed about it, asked about it, and it didn't happen," Jackson continued. "Well, it didn't happen for a reason. The worst place to be in this world is outside the will of God... What's yours is yours. Stay ready, so you don't have to get ready."
Cameron Johnson on Tom Thibodeau’s firing: “It’s a copycat league and some teams have done it with a lot of success. You look at Golden State going from Mark Jackson to Steve Kerr, championships, dynasty run. You look at um Toronto going from Dwayne Casey to Nick Nurse and immediately coming up with a championship. So, I think that's kind of set a a precedent that like this can be a successful a a formula for winning to getting over the hump."