It was another dismal season in Phoenix for the Suns, as the young team struggled to show much in the way of notable improvement from last year to this one despite the addition of the top overall pick and an extra year of development for their young roster.
Josh Jackson entered his sophomore year hoping to build on what was a solid second half of his rookie season, but inconsistencies in his offensive game continued and the fourth overall pick from 2017 remains a difficult player to project going forward. The Suns will again be picking high in the lottery and with Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton on the roster, they’ll likely be hoping to land a point guard or more wing help, which could raise questions about Jackson’s role with the team next season.
Over the weekend, Jackson compounded his on-court ups and downs with an off-court mistake as he was arrested at Rolling Loud Music Festival after attempting to enter a VIP section without a pass on multiple occasions and, eventually, trying to run away from police while handcuffed.
According to a police report obtained by the Arizona Republic, Jackson pulled away from the officer escorting him away from the VIP section he continually tried to enter and was eventually handcuffed. What happened from there sounds almost too ridiculous to be true.
“The officer then handcuffed Jackson and escorted him away from the crowd. Jackson sat on a nearby golf cart as instructed, but when Manzelli stepped away, Jackson stood up and began to walk away.
Manzelli “instructed” Jackson to sit back down on the golf cart, but the Suns forward turned and ran away.
The officer chased Jackson and lost sight of him “along the fence line” of the stadium. Backup officers found and “detained” Jackson, who Manzelli identified.”
I can’t imagine it was all that difficult to identify Jackson given that he was, well, still in handcuffs when he decided to run away. The forward posted $1,000 bond and will have a hearing on June 10th. All in all it’s a pretty minor charge in the grand scheme of things and there are far worse things one can do than try to slip into a VIP section, but trying to run away while already handcuffed isn’t the best decision in the world.
