National Basketball Association

Bobcats acquire disgruntled Jackson from Warriors

Published Nov. 17, 2009 5:49 a.m. ET

foxsports

Stephen Jackson walked into the locker room, took one look at his newly stitched Charlotte Bobcats uniform and smiled.

It wasn't a Golden State jersey, so he was happy - for now.

The Warriors found a home for the disgruntled swingman Monday, sending him to the Bobcats in a four-player deal that pairs him with coach Larry Brown. The Bobcats traded shooting guard Raja Bell and forward Vladimir Radmanovic to the Warriors for Jackson and guard Acie Law.

"I wanted to be out pretty bad," Jackson said. "Things were going bad. I was getting blamed for everything. I wasn't seeing eye to eye with the team. I got fined in preseason, which was ridiculous. It was just a lot of things that I didn't agree with that was going on."

The deal gave Jackson his wish: a ticket out of town after his difficult relationship with Warriors coach Don Nelson, who had acknowledged since the season began the team would try to trade him.

"We can get back to playing basketball," Larry Riley said after his first major move since becoming the Warriors' general manager. "Our players had done a great job doing everything they could to play through this and not let it be a major distraction. We felt we needed to do this and move on."

Jackson was in a hotel room in Milwaukee when he got the call from his agent Monday morning. He immediately hopped on a plane to Orlando and started against the Magic.

Jackson said he was looking forward to playing for Brown, and he didn't miss a chance to take a parting shot at Nelson when asked what kind of coach he looks for as a player.

"The kind of coach I want that has your back," Jackson said. "That's something that's big to me. If a coach has my back, then I don't mind playing 110 percent for him."

Now Brown, the Hall of Famer who has coached numerous difficult players, including Allen Iverson, will get a crack at the talented and polarizing Jackson.

"No matter what Stephen might say to me when I take him out, I've heard it before," Brown said. "As long as they care and as long as they want to get better and are good teammates, I'm OK."

With managing partner Michael Jordan signing off on the deal, Charlotte takes on Jackson's contract, which has three years and $28 million left after this season. Golden State inherits Radmanovic's deal, worth about $13.5 million over this season and next. Bell and Law are in the final year of their contracts.

The 6-foot-8 Jackson gives Charlotte, the NBA's lowest-scoring team at 82.4 points a game, an immediate offensive boost. He's averaging 16.6 points in nine games this season, after averaging 20.7 points and 6.5 assists last season.

"He can create a shot for himself, which is something that we desperately need," Brown said.

But the 31-year-old Jackson also brings plenty of baggage, dating to when he was suspended for going into the stands in Auburn Hills, Mich., in the infamous Pacers-Pistons brawl in 2004.

He's been upset with the Warriors since their decline after he helped lead them to the second round of the 2007 playoffs. The NBA fined him $25,000 when he went public with his trade demand in August. He then got into a spat with Nelson during an exhibition game last month, leading to a two-game suspension that cost him about $139,000 in salary. He also relinquished his captain title.