Jackson: Thompson will get max
Ex-coach has high praise for former WSU guard
Former Warriors coach Mark Jackson, at a time when the team is negotiating a contract extension for Klay Thompson, said he expects the guard will ultimately land a maximum-salary contract.
“He’s a guy that will make a boatload of money and in my opinion the best two-way shooting guard in the world, and it’s not even close,” the ESPN analyst said Wednesday in a conference call with reporters.
“He’s got to get (the max contract).”
Jackson was fired in May after leading the Warriors to back-to-back playoff appearances and overseeing the rise of Thompson and backcourt mate Stephen Curry.
Jackson said the Warriors’ backcourt duo is among a number that can claim to be the best, adding about Curry and Thompson, “I would be biased to say that they are.”
Jackson reminisced about his former team Tuesday in an interview with Los Angeles-based Christian talk radio station KKLA.
Asked if at Golden State he was given the freedom to help shape the lives of his players, Jackson said, “I will give them credit for that. They knew who they were hiring, and I had a platform, and it was incredible to see.”
Jackson, a pastor at his church in Reseda, California, recalled that during weekend trips to Los Angeles, he would invite players to come to church or go to the gym and then have a “busload of guys” show up to church.
Jackson said he was “crazy enough” to believe that Curry saw his ankle problems healed because God blessed the point guard who was “bold enough” to come to the altar at his church.
“I was able to witness, share, testify and when necessary use words,” Jackson said. “It’s not like I was hitting them over the head with the Bible.”