Reggie Jackson played for the Thunder during his first three and a half seasons in the NBA. At the February deadline last season, the Thunder dealt the former Boston College guard to the Detroit Pistons in a three-team deal that net Oklahoma City Enes Kanter. While Kanter still can’t couldn’t defend the chairs Yi Jianlian dominated in the lead up to the 2007 Draft, dealing Reggie to Motown had to happen and it still feels like a bit of a coup.
Remember, Jackson had reportedly asked out, and after the trade was completed, news leaked that Reggie had actually refused to play a game earlier in the year with the Thunder despite being healthy to go. Before the trade, he had also informed reporters he was handling trade rumors “probably better than you are.”
But Stan Van Gundy and the Pistons offered Reggie a five-year, $80-million max deal this summer, which he smartly accepted. The risk was evident, but they rolled the dice anyway and let Greg Monroe walk. Detroit started the year by going 5-1, but have only won three of their next eleven — including a 103-87 defeat to Reggie’s old teammates in Oklahoma City on Friday.
While Reggie has a PER over 20 (the league average is 15.0) and is shooting a respectable 35.2 percent from beyond the arc (though he’s just 42.4 percent from the field), he was just 4-of-16 while taking the L against his old team.
As you can hear in the video above, a fan — perhaps a relative of John Wall — let him hear it during the game like old fans are want to do, especially if a player was purportedly looking to get out of town rather than play behind Russell Westbrook at the point. So of course Reggie told them: “suck my d*ck.”
Jackson will turn 26 in April next year, so we consider him an adult. The impulsive counter in the heat of a game isn’t that surprising, but it’s also not something parents want their young son or daughter to hear at an NBA arena, where a lot of young fans can usually be found.
Real stars let their play do the talking and Reggie will hopefully learn that lesson before offering up a more biting — and original — on-court retort the next time he suits up at Chesapeake Energy Arena next season. The Pistons host the Thunder in Detroit on March 29.
