In Sports Commentary
In Sports Commentary
In Sports Commentary
In Sports Commentary


What is wrong with Milwaukee?
I'm not entirely certain who the first professional athlete that publicly wanted out of Milwaukee was, but I think it was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975. Frustrated by the Bucks regression, he asked for and received a trade back to the city he played college ball in, Los Angeles.
The rest, as they say, is history.
But Abdul-Jabbar has said in recent years that his frustrations here had nothing to do with the size of the city or that he wanted to practice his newly-found religion elsewhere.
"I can practice my faith anywhere,'' he told AOL News in 2010. "The Bucks weren't going to be vying for a championship any time soon. ... Oscar retired, so it was going to be a while before we got back to where we would be contenders.
"I wanted to go from Milwaukee to New York to go home, and New York couldn't make a deal. They had money but they didn't have the players that Milwaukee wanted. L.A. had players and money. So L.A. was my second home. I went to UCLA so I OK'd the deal. That's how it happened.''
The next time Abdul-Jabbar came to Milwaukee as a member of the Lakers, he was afforded a nice round of applause. After all, he had been the catalyst to the Bucks one and only NBA championship. In the years since, every time he has returned to the city in where he began his professional basketball career, the now 64-year old legend has been treated like a conquering hero.
But yet, he still wanted out of town at one point.
Gary Sheffield wanted out of Milwaukee as well. So much so that he intentionally committed errors in an effort to get traded from the Brewers. For the rest of his long, 22-year career, every at-bat in Milwaukee was met with a loud chorus of boos.
In 1992, upon being drafted by the Bucks in the first round of the NBA Draft, Todd Day was unknowingly on-camera and mic'd up when he uttered derisively "Milwaukee...damn."
Today, we have Stephen Jackson in our midst.
Tuesday night, Jackson was asked by Inside Milwaukee's Howie Magner whether or not he wanted to stay in here after landing squarely in coach Scott Skiles' doghouse.
Magner: "Do you still want to be here in Milwaukee?"
Jackson: "I can't answer that. You're trying to get me fined."
Magner: "No, I'm not. I'm just curious."
Jackson: "If I answer that I'll get fined though."
Magner: "OK. Fair enough."
Jackson: "I mean, I can't answer that."
Oh boy. Here we go again.
Stephen Jackson is an enigma. Some teammates and former coaches laud his team-first attitude. Then again, he was once charged with felony criminal recklessness and a number of misdemeanors, including assault, disorderly conduct, and two counts of battery.
Future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, however, called him an "ideal teammate." Jackson was was also once given his own day in San Francisco by then-Mayor Gavin Newsome and has been honored by the NBA for his community involvement.
Former Bucks coach Don Nelson has called Jackson "one of the finest people I have ever known."
Yet he has bounced from Phoenix to New Jersey, San Antonio, Atlanta, Indiana, Golden State, Charlotte and now Milwaukee in the NBA; along with other professional stops in LaCrosse, Sydney, Venezuela, San Carlos, Fort Wayne, and Pueblo Nuevo.
If Jackson were such a great guy, wouldn't it make sense that at least one of those teams would have wanted to keep him?
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Talkbacks
brewcitypaul | Feb. 10, 2012 at 8:17 a.m. (report)
Get out your keyboard again Doug. Jennings is pulling a Lebron on us.
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Fan | Feb. 9, 2012 at 3:19 p.m. (report)
This isn't a Milwaukee only issue. But, yes, Jax is a rapper now who happens to play basketball when he wants. The guy can play, but like too many athletes at his age and leve he wants to play exactly where he wants to. The Bucks are still competing, drawing well and positioned for a 5-8 seed. That's decent especially in this crazy condensed season. Let's not forget, sports fans, that it wasn't long ago (mid 90s) when the Brewers struggled to get 14,000 people into their outdated stadium. Now look at them. Milwaukee backs its teams and the Bucks, sans characters like Jax, can compete and succeed. But, sadly, most athletes will eventually go where they want too.
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Captool73 | Feb. 9, 2012 at 3:12 p.m. (report)
Since Ray Allen was traded in 02, the Bucks have been treading water (at best) for a decade. In that time, agents and players have come to control the NBA as never before. The only way to deal with this--fro the owners' point of view is contraction--eliminating sad sack franchises like the Bucks and cutting expenses..... It pains me to say this becasue I have been a fan of the Bucks 9and a one time season ticket holder) since they arrived in 1969. Times change, however. Eddie D, Greg Smith, Junior B and others are long gone. The current players don't really care? Neither does most of the fan base anymore either.
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mbradleyc | Feb. 9, 2012 at 2:55 p.m. (report)
No surprise. Jackson is not a Milwaukee kind of man. He's just another guy who was able to obtain an NBA career, but otherwise is nothing special. The beauty is that with the new amnesty device, the Bucks can dump him and his contract at the end of the season. That will stop the madness. No more trading our crap for somone else's crap. He doesn't want us and we don't want him. Get lost, bum.
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MKEman10 | Feb. 9, 2012 at 2:36 p.m. (report)
The Bucks need to stop dragging players to Milwaukee that aren't fully committed. For instance, Gary Payton, Anthony Mason, Yi Jianlian, Corey Maggette and now Stephen Jackson. Although Jackson has been a decent teammate thus far, he is a selfish on the court player incapable of playing 'team' basketball, he would prefer to dribble around by himself until throwing up a 3. In addition, his defense has been sub-par, at best. Please watch to see if he ever ever boxes out on a shot...nope.
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