How a Former #1 Ranked Player Failed in the NBA

Andy Hoops

Play Underdog's Keep Your Million! https://play.underdogsports.com/vgwg/p-andy In this video, we take a look at how Josh Jackson's NBA career was set up to fail from the start. contact@tablerock.com  I make all kinds of long-form NBA content which include player stories, analysis, breakdowns, and historical topics. Make sure to leave a like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video! ► X: https://www.x.com/@andyhoopsyt ► TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andyhoopsyt ► Music:  Black Vortex by Kevin MacLeod Movement Proposition by Kevin MacLeod Pure Attitude by Kevin MacLeod Sardana by Kevin MacLeod Inspired by Kevin MacLeod Stormfront by Kevin MacLeod Basic Implosion by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 (incompetech.com) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ► Sources: Stats and box-scores from Basketball-Reference.com, NBA.com, Statmuse.com, PBPstats.com #nba

Transcript

00:00Josh Jackson was once ranked the number one high school prospect in the nation by almost every platform.

00:06Back in 2016, he was already deemed as one of, if not the most athletic player scouts have ever witnessed.

00:16And unlike the waves of other hyper-athletic 6'7", 6'8", guys,

00:20Jackson was special because of the way he capitalized on his physical advantages.

00:24He tapped into this by being one of the best defenders and played with an incredible motor.

00:29If you've seen him prior to the NBA, dude was moving like you're watching the video in two-time speed.

00:34To add on to this, he was also deemed as a high IQ player with incredible awareness.

00:40Not just as a one-on-one defender, but he was so versatile,

00:43so fast that he was everywhere on the court and covered so much ground.

00:47A scout from DraftXpress stated, quote,

00:50He's a fiery guy who has been a two-way player his entire career

00:53and showed the ability to guard anywhere from 1 to 4 in college.

00:57By the time the 2017 NBA Draft approached, several players jumped ahead of him.

01:02But for many scouts, Jackson was still regarded as having the best raw potential of anybody,

01:08as his career was projected to be like Kawhi's or Jimmy Butler's.

01:12Yet by 2022, at the age of 25, Jackson was out of the NBA.

01:17While you can simply throw him onto the long list of athletic hopefuls who was too raw to contribute,

01:22he was supposed to be different.

01:25Everything, everyone who watched him prior to the NBA knew he was different.

01:29We've also realized that in every step of the way,

01:32every stage of Jackson's career before and after his arrival to the NBA,

01:36every coach, every trainer, everyone who was supposed to guide him in his basketball journey

01:40set him up for failure.

01:42Here is a takeaway. Jackson's going to go up and miss the jam.

01:46Boy, if that doesn't say everything about this...

01:48And eventually, he was too much of a head case to keep going.

01:52Let's take a look from the beginning.

01:54How it all started.

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03:01At 16 years old, Jackson's mother relocated their family to California so he can join Prolific Prep.

03:07A basketball program to help players prepare for college.

03:10The same one where future NBA players like Jalen Green, Gary Trent Jr., AJ DeBansa, and Darren Peterson would join.

03:18But Prolific Prep was different than your normal basketball program.

03:22You see, the founder was a man named Jeremy Rizzotti who wanted to run his program in a different way.

03:28He saw how other places would exhaust their athletes.

03:31Make them do so many repetitions with countless hours of practice and drills because that's how it's always been.

03:37Rizzotti, however, had the opposite vision.

03:40In an article by investigative journalist Baxter Holmes, he said this about Rizzotti.

03:45He would hold shorter practices, not two hours a day, five days a week, but just 50 minutes a day,

03:50total.

03:51He also wanted to limit the number of tournaments and games that his players would play in,

03:55even if it meant taking heat from tournament directors.

03:59The player who took the most number of days off and participated in the fewest games was, of course, Josh

04:05Jackson.

04:06It wasn't just the lack of games he played, but they didn't even want him jumping that much.

04:11Jackson himself said his coaches and staff told him the more he jumped,

04:14the more money he cost himself because of how the landing impact can hurt his knees over time.

04:34I mean, this is kind of crazy, no?

04:37In theory, maybe it kind of makes sense, but at a certain point, this logic becomes weird.

04:43And Jackson wasn't even practicing as much as other players.

04:47Around this time, he also joined an AAU team called One Nation, a program founded by his own mother.

04:53While his mom had a massive impact on his development as a basketball player because she too was one growing

04:58up,

04:59when you have family members controlling the path of your career like this,

05:02in the most important years of your development,

05:05maybe it would have been better if he had more access to better coaches and better training instead.

05:10Regardless, due to his dominance in high school, it didn't matter, at least not yet.

05:16He was so good, and his combination of elite athleticism and high motor was all he needed to excel among

05:21amateurs.

05:22To use the term high motor is understating it too.

05:25Watching him play was an obvious indicator that his effort was above the rest.

05:29He was such a freak that even his biggest weakness, his jump shot, was seen as an afterthought.

05:35Plenty of high schoolers have a broken shot,

05:37but this is something that most folks believed would improve as his basketball journey progressed.

05:42Yet, it turns out, this would be a bigger obstacle than previously thought, because nobody helped him.

05:54By the time he arrived at Kansas, he carried these expectations over to the national spotlight.

05:59And defensively, he met them.

06:01Among players around his height, Jackson stood above the rest.

06:05Dude was on another planet.

06:06And much of his success was fueled by his relentless aggression.

06:10He suffocated players of almost every position.

06:13Like I mentioned earlier, he was defending 1-4.

06:16And his coach, Bill Self, even put him as a small ball power forward,

06:19which was quite unusual back then at the college ranks for a player as skinny and lanky as he was.

06:24But due to injuries to his teammates, he had to play there.

06:28This leads us to a peculiar quote from his coach when he was asked about Jackson's struggles as a shooter.

06:34And this was his response.

06:36Can he do things better with his shot?

06:38Absolutely.

06:39Can it become quicker?

06:40Absolutely.

06:41But that will probably be on somebody else's watch.

06:44That won't be on our watch as much.

06:46I don't see a reason why when you have a young man for a very brief period of time,

06:50why you want to totally cloud his brain with something other than very, very few simple things.

06:56Now this was eye-opening.

06:58It was clear his coaches wanted to keep his game simple.

07:01Jackson's lack of shooting was intentional,

07:03because for Kansas, there's no benefit of them working with him on something he won't be doing much.

07:08And you could say this severely hindered his development.

07:12In his lone season at Kansas, the team finished with an impressive 31-5 record,

07:17so they didn't need him to do more.

07:18And just wanted to pigeonhole him into a role he already excelled at.

07:22And the whole shooting problem, that's someone else's responsibility as he makes it to the NBA.

07:27Sadly, this happens far too common for one-and-done athletes.

07:31There's no point in investing in their future, because they won't see the result when he's there.

07:36While his 3-point shot wasn't that bad in college, it was on a small sample size,

07:41and a deeper dive into the stats indicates there's a more serious problem.

07:45Jackson converted just 0.79 points per possession on catch-and-shoot jumpers,

07:49and 0.68 points per possession on pull-up jumpers,

07:53both of which were in the bottom 15th percentile.

07:56These are the reasons why, when he can't get by a defender and gets the rim,

08:00he has no way to score.

08:02We sometimes saw this in college,

08:03but it wasn't enough of a concern since his team was winning.

08:07Everyone always says,

08:08oh, whenever this dude gets a jumper, he'll be fine.

08:11But those same people don't realize that

08:13his poor jump shot affects every aspect of his offense and his team's offense.

08:19With the 4th pick in the 2017 NBA draft,

08:24the Phoenix Suns select

08:25Josh Jackson

08:27from the University of Kansas.

08:31So, by the time he got drafted to 2017 by the Phoenix Suns,

08:35he was a very, very flawed player.

08:37He was a massive liability

08:39the moment he stepped foot on the court.

08:41The Suns, however,

08:42kind of had the right idea.

08:44Jackson flies to the rim

08:46and gets the finger roll.

08:48Their thought process was

08:49they were in a rebuilding phase.

08:51They had used their number 4 pick

08:52in the previous year to draft Dragon Bender,

08:54and now this year,

08:55Josh Jackson.

08:56They had a young team with young legs

08:58playing near the fastest pace in the entire league.

09:01So, Jackson theoretically fit perfectly

09:03within their system.

09:04They didn't actually need him to playmake

09:06or handle the ball much.

09:07They just need him to defend

09:09and play off the ball,

09:10hoping he could run and thrive

09:11next to their point guards.

09:13Except, their point guard situation

09:15was f***ed.

09:17No disrespect to Devin Booker,

09:19but in Jackson's first 2 years,

09:21it was Booker at the point most of the time.

09:23And as young as he was,

09:25he didn't have a firm grasp of the position,

09:27and passing wasn't his strong suit either.

09:30To draft a prospect like Jackson,

09:32who could only thrive in a well-established system

09:34where he knows where to be,

09:35joining Phoenix with Booker still learning

09:37how to run the point

09:38was not a recipe for success.

09:41Like, I'm 99% sure that

09:43if Jackson got drafted to the Suns

09:45when Steve Nash or Chris Paul,

09:46or heck, even Goran Dragic

09:48or Ricky Rubio were there,

09:49he would have been part of an offense

09:51that actually knew what they were doing,

09:53with an established point guard

09:54who can help him get his ideal shots.

09:57But he never got the chance to have that,

09:59because they traded him away

10:01after two seasons as a salary dump.

10:04Of course, the reasons for this trade

10:06extended beyond his bad play on the court.

10:09Jackson had a temper,

10:10and off the court,

10:11he did a lot of things

10:12that rubbed the team the wrong way.

10:14Here's a list of them.

10:15Just three games into his career,

10:17he got fined $35,000

10:18for doing a gesture

10:19that looked like he was shooting a gun

10:21at a fan in the crowd.

10:22He had an autograph signing

10:23that was scheduled by the team,

10:25but he completely vanished

10:26and didn't show up at all,

10:27so the Suns fined him $20,000.

10:30In his sophomore year,

10:31he got 15 technical fouls.

10:33That was the fourth most

10:35among all players that year.

10:36He also got arrested at a music festival,

10:39and he got accused of getting

10:40his baby daughter high on weed.

10:43You combine all this

10:44with his on-court deficiencies,

10:46his two years in Phoenix

10:47were the worst two years

10:48of probably any top five pick in history.

10:51You remember how I mentioned

10:52prior to the NBA,

10:53he was a step faster than most players,

10:55and that's how he scored

10:56a lot of points.

10:57But against pros,

10:58Jackson's first step

10:59was nothing special,

11:01and his ball handling

11:02was even worse

11:02against actual players

11:04who knew how to defend.

11:05In a league with much bigger,

11:07faster players

11:07than he's ever faced,

11:09he didn't even look athletic anymore.

11:11All you could see

11:12were the things he was bad at,

11:14and it was a lot.

11:16Having no jump shot

11:17was the least of his worries now,

11:19because when he got traded,

11:20his career was already

11:21dangling by a thread.

11:23And he took one last shot

11:24on his way out

11:25towards the Suns.

11:27The entire organization

11:28is unproductive.

11:30Stop blaming 20-year-old kids

11:31for 15 years of sucking.

11:34Yeah, I mean,

11:35that kind of goes hard

11:36if he actually had

11:36a successful career,

11:37but he didn't.

11:39Jackson sabotaged himself

11:40even more than his environment

11:42failing him.

11:43But I do think

11:44this was the worst time

11:45to be drafted to Phoenix.

11:46In just two seasons,

11:48he played with

11:48three different coaches

11:49and 44 different teammates.

11:51Guys were coming up and down

11:53from the G League constantly,

11:54and there was just

11:55no continuity,

11:56no consistency

11:57through his entire time.

11:59Jackson was horrible,

12:01but the rest of his team

12:01was horrible too.

12:03There's no way

12:03this situation

12:04could have been salvaged.

12:06By the summer of 2019,

12:08he arrived to Memphis

12:09as part of a four-player trade.

12:11He was the most enticing

12:13player of these four

12:13simply due to his history.

12:15There's a reason

12:16he was once considered

12:17the number one prospect

12:18in the nation,

12:19and the Grizzlies figured

12:20maybe there's a sliver of chance

12:21he could tap into

12:22what made him so special

12:23to begin with.

12:25Instead,

12:25they just sent him

12:26to the G League

12:26before the season

12:27even started.

12:29He stayed there

12:30for a long,

12:30long time.

12:31It was basically

12:32a four-month boot camp

12:33to help him learn

12:34and get his career

12:35back on track.

12:36Jackson did well there,

12:38but upon his return,

12:39nothing changed.

12:41You see,

12:42much of this

12:42was unfortunately predicted.

12:44Even before he got drafted,

12:45the attitude issues

12:46were apparent

12:47and his emotions

12:48would often impact

12:49the way he played.

12:50He gave off the vibe

12:51of a player

12:52who had already reached

12:53his potential

12:53as an 18-year-old

12:54with very little

12:55development afterwards.

12:58Jackson's entire game

12:59used to revolve around

13:00his physical capabilities

13:01and high effort,

13:02but when you take away

13:03those things,

13:04you're left with a player

13:05with zero fundamentals

13:06and zero NBA quality skills.

13:09Jackson.

13:10And Jones all over that.

13:13His three-point shot

13:14didn't exist,

13:15but his percentages

13:16from everywhere

13:16on the court,

13:17from the short mid-range

13:18to even the paint area,

13:20they were abysmal too.

13:21And even him

13:22trying to convert

13:23close shots

13:24wasn't as good either

13:25because he was often

13:26met with physicality

13:27that was difficult

13:28to adjust to.

13:29When his rookie contract

13:30expired by 2020,

13:32with zero indication

13:33he'd ever get better,

13:34the league wouldn't let him go

13:36without another chance.

13:37That chance

13:38would be in Detroit,

13:39who signed him

13:40to a small two-year

13:41$10 million contract

13:42just to see what he can do.

13:44By 15.

13:46Former Grizzly,

13:47Josh Jackson,

13:47goes to the basket,

13:48he's short on that one.

13:50Jackson had a brief period

13:51with the Pistons

13:52where the team

13:52was losing so much

13:53that they had

13:54nothing more to lose.

13:55So, they were like,

13:56screw it,

13:57let's just give him

13:58more minutes

13:58and see how he does.

13:59The thing is,

14:00there were moments

14:01that made fans believe

14:02he could be growing

14:03into something more.

14:05In several instances,

14:06he had moments

14:07of shutting down

14:08his opponents,

14:08and the effort

14:09would be there sporadically.

14:10He showed flashes

14:11of offensive potential,

14:13especially as a slasher.

14:14This was highly inconsistent,

14:16though,

14:17and his jump shot

14:17remained streakier than ever.

14:19Olenek finds the cutter,

14:21Josh Jackson gets rejected.

14:23The follow won't go.

14:25The problem was,

14:26much of the internal issues

14:27related to the roster

14:28were similar in Detroit

14:29as it was in Phoenix.

14:31Their point guard situation

14:32was god-awful,

14:34with much of his time

14:35spent playing with Killian Hayes,

14:37who was an even worse player

14:38than Jackson himself.

14:40Like,

14:41I'm not gonna excuse Jackson

14:42of his shortcomings

14:42that were self-inflicted,

14:44but can you really expect

14:45a struggling young player

14:46to join a team

14:47with Killian Hayes,

14:48and expect him

14:49to all of a sudden

14:50get better?

14:50Of course not.

14:52He went from

14:53one terrible circumstance

14:54to an even worse one.

14:56Over time,

14:57Jackson had developed

14:58this boneheaded habit

14:59of going as fast as possible

15:01towards the basket,

15:02then get stopped

15:03by a defender,

15:03and then he doesn't

15:04know what to do.

15:05When your pull-up jumper

15:07is so bad,

15:07there's really not much

15:08you can do,

15:09so he turned the ball

15:10over a lot.

15:11His turnover rate

15:12was quite high

15:13for a player

15:14who isn't a primary playmaker,

15:16and soon,

15:17his time there

15:17came to an end abruptly.

15:19At one point,

15:21he might have seen

15:21a small light

15:22at the end of the tunnel

15:23in Detroit,

15:23but that quickly dimmed

15:25as he got traded again

15:26a year later.

15:28Aside from a short-lived

15:29stint in Sacramento,

15:30Jackson tried numerous times

15:31afterwards to get back

15:32on an NBA roster.

15:34In the summer of 22,

15:35he signed with the Raptors

15:36but couldn't even make

15:37the final roster spot

15:38and got waived.

15:40Then he tried his hands

15:41at the G League again

15:42but got waived

15:43after just one game

15:44with the Stockton Kings.

15:46Jeez,

15:47getting released

15:47by a G League team,

15:48now that's a new low,

15:50even for him.

15:51For a 25-year-old,

15:53former number one prospect,

15:54this might have been

15:55his final opportunity.

15:57Then,

15:57by late 2023,

15:59a year after his final NBA game,

16:01this happened.

16:04Yeah,

16:05let's just say

16:06if the nail in the coffin

16:07wasn't getting waived

16:08by a G League team,

16:09this was definitely it.

16:11Josh Jackson concluded

16:12his NBA career

16:13with just five seasons played

16:14and every single

16:16advanced metric

16:16points to him

16:17as being one of the

16:18worst players in history.

16:20One of the worst career

16:21five-year adjusted

16:22plus-minuses in history,

16:23which takes into account

16:24his impact per 100 possessions

16:26relative to his teammates

16:27and his opponents.

16:29To say Jackson

16:30ended up as a bust,

16:31is an understatement

16:32and his basketball journey

16:33has been anything

16:34but productive.

16:35From the very start

16:36of high school,

16:37there was very little

16:38he improved on

16:39and in every step

16:39of his life,

16:40there always seemed

16:41to be an obstacle

16:42that hindered his development.

16:43Whether it's his coaches

16:44not caring

16:45or the tumultuous teams

16:46he landed on in the NBA,

16:48which certainly made it worse.

16:49All the things

16:50that could have went wrong

16:51went wrong.

16:53And with Jackson's

16:54own temperament,

16:55this was an impending disaster

16:56bound to happen

16:57to somebody like him.

16:59If there was any way

17:01to save his career,

17:02he just needed

17:03some positivity.

17:04He just needed something,

17:05better voices in his head,

17:06more guidance.

17:07There were so many things

17:08that could have helped him

17:09that wasn't available

17:10or he refused

17:11to get that help.

17:12Nobody cared about him

17:14enough to invest in him

17:15as a player.

17:17Anyway,

17:18that's all folks.

17:19I hope y'all enjoyed the video.

17:20Let me know your thoughts

17:21in the comment section.

17:22Thank you all so much

17:23for watching.

17:24And of course,

17:25as always,

17:25I'll see you next time.

17:27Peace.

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