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June 11, 2009

Our Stevie: A real Port Arthur shining star

Tom Halliburton column for Friday, June 12

Whenever the NBA finishes altering its goofy “flop” rules and regulations, it also needs to change its establishment’s perception of Stephen Jesse Jackson.

Once branded among the league’s notorious outlaws, the former Lincoln Bumblebees’ basketball superstar is rightfully taking his place among its premier players. Stevie is climbing recognition mountains on other adventurous hikes, too.

This is not your older brother’s Stephen Jackson who encountered problems quicker than traveling violations. This is not the Jackson who was grouped among the NBA’s unsavory black hats. God has tossed a few lemons in Stevie’s jumbo NBA cup and…. ooops, Stevie’s making lemonade.

That’s happening for Jackson at 235 Proctor Street where the Stephen Jackson Academy has offered kids of all sizes, shapes, ages a summer camp at home away home. It also means Jackson’s mom has found her son a place to work on his

game at any hour of the day or night. Pretty neat… you bet.

Behind the red exterior that faces the building’s front, a gym with true purple and gold lining covers all four inner basketball walls. It’s a Beehive-type scenery that has to make James Gamble, Melvin Getwood, Michael Jaco, Bryan Sallier or Anthony Allen feel right at home. Earl Evans, B.J. Tyler or any other great BumbleBee would happily shoot hoops here.

Stephen’s year-old gym comes in extremely handy because Stevie is starting the process of rehabilitating a turf toe. The 31-year-old captain and senior member (age-wise) of the Golden State Warriors underwent surgery on Mar. 31 to remove multiple bone spurs above the nerve tissue under his big toe.

Nine years in the NBA will cause the body to experience a fracture here or there. Yet Jackson’s mind, his reliance on God, his maturity as a leader, the whole package is jelling nicely. In defense of Stevie, the next mountain Jackson will climb will be a mountain called defense.

Defense, you say? Jackson already is regarded as a guy who can score points.

He averaged 20.7 a game last season. He collected an impressive 6.5 assists – second only to LeBron James for forwards. He averaged 39.6 minutes a game, trailing only Atlanta’s Joe Jackson.

But here’s the subtle aspect of Stevie’s game that you may have missed.

He’s played “hurt” the last three years. Bone fragments were removed from Jackson’s left foot and he endured the pain for three seasons.

Jackson’s first day to run arrived on Thursday and he offered a thumbs-up medical report.

“I had my career year on a broken toe, so I can imagine how I will be next year,” he said. “I didn’t walk on it for about two months. It felt real good. It’s just a case of getting my strength back.

“I got tired of fighting the pain during those games. I still got the job done but it’s definitely going to help me out a lot being able to play without pain.”

Shane Battier and Ron Artest of the Houston Rockets are two of the league’s true defensive masters. Both can sympathize with Jackson’s problem over the last three seasons.

Translation: it’s hard to belong among the NBA’s elite defenders when one’s left foot is in pain. It’s a tribute to Steve’s mental toughness and courage that he persisted through it all. A painful cross to bear, it certainly was.

Now Jackson applies ice as much as possible during his rehab. But he realized how he withstood the ordeal. He blocked it out.

“Once the game started, I kinda blocked the pain out,” he said. “But after the game, I paid for it.”

Here’s what Jackson accomplished. He defined himself as the leader of the Warriors – the first guy to the gym, the example-setter, 110 percenter, a player that Golden State’s franchise could build around and be proud of. Port Arthur can be equally proud of Stevie, just as Golden State can. It’s one thing for him to lead the BumbleBees. It’s another to be Golden State’s team leader. Yet Jackson had it in him all along.

“You have to start leading by example,” he explained. “Once you lead by example, it makes you a better person, a better leader, a better player. All that hard work, 110 percent, first one at the gym, that all was part of being a leader. And being a leader is something you can’t teach. You have to be born with it. I thank God that I have that gift to be a leader.”

And so the leader of Stephen Jackson’s summer basketball camp posed with his younger campers and fellow instructors and counted his blessings. How long will they last? Gosh, maybe Stevie will play another four or five years if his body will allow it. Right now there’s no limit on it.

“I have four years left on my contract (which he reached last winter). If my body feels good in four more years, I’m going to keep going. But I’ll promise you this. I won’t go past 40. Once I get close close to 40, I’m going to shut it down.”

Jackson emerged among the league’s more remarkable talents this season despite the pain in his foot. He registered three games of 30 points and 10 assists in a five-game span. He’s the first NBA player to reach that number since LeBron James did it in 2007.

Stevie’s image already had made a quantum leap with Warriors fans in the 2007-08 season. Jackson was named the 2007-08 recipient of the Angela & Christopher Cohan Community Service Award, given annually to the Warriors player who best exemplifies the spirit of community service through their outstanding commitment of time, service and financial support to the children and families of the Bay Area.

Port Arthur may see much more of Jackson in the future because of his Academy.

He can work as much, as hard and as often on his game right at home. And you know something… Port Arthur and the NBA can be mighty proud of Stephen Jesse Jackson. More folks than merely Ron Artest know that Stevie has a heart of gold… purple and gold, too.

Tom Halliburton is a Port Arthur News sports columnist



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