Interviewing former Dallas Mavericks guard, Jim Jackson

Had the incredible opportunity to chat with former Dallas Mavericks guard, Jim Jackson (@jimjackson419), about his time in the NBA, with the Mavs, and what it is like covering the BIG3. If you want to read the interview recap with his co-analyst, Brian Custer, click here.

When the Dallas Mavericks franchise began, it did not take long for them to put together a solid team. Led by Mark Aguirre, Rolando Blackman, Derek Harper, and Brad Davis, the Mavs of the 1980’s were a solid group that made a few solid playoff runs. Once the 80’s ended, however, the Mavericks franchise went through some tough times.

By the early 90’s, Dallas was one of the worst teams in the league. By being that, Dallas got to select very high in the draft for multiple consecutive year. Jamal Mashburn, Jim Jackson, and Jason Kidd soon joined forces in what was known as the “three J’s” era of the Dallas Mavericks. Although things didn’t work out as perfectly as most would hope, Jackson cleared up some falsehoods that many believe from that unit.

“We never played a full 82 games together,” Jackson said about his time with Jamal Mashburn and Jason Kidd. “I played with Mashburn his rookie year, but when [Kidd] came to Dallas, we had to deal with injuries that never allowed us to be on the same court for an entire season.”

Jackson, like many, believe that that team could have been something special if it wasn’t for all the transition happening at the time. Aside from the injuries and waiting on draft picks. they also went through multiple coaching and front office changes too. All of these things came together at the wrong time and Jackson wasn’t in Dallas long enough to get that one all ironed out.

Naturally while chatting with Jim Jackson, my first instinct was to ask all kinds of questions about the Dallas Mavericks. However, knowing that the BIG3 was in town, I limited myself. My main question to Jackson was simply: What do you think of the growth from the Dallas Mavericks organization?

“The credit goes to Mark Cuban,” Jackson said. “He put the right players, the right coaches and the right people in the front office together to make a winning team.”

We all wish things would have gone better, but it is nice to see that Dallas is still a place that Jackson remembers well.

After the Mavs questions, we jumped right into the BIG3. Jackson has spent a lot of time with the BIG3 and has seen how much it has grown and how much it can grow going forward. When I asked about their ability to fill a lot of seats at the American Airlines Center, Jackson told me that when they came to Dallas last year, there were 15,000 people there. These big basketball towns are gaining interest in the league that Ice Cube has created.

We also talked about how 3-on-3 basketball is bigger internationally that it ever has been here in the United States. Jackson mentioned that with 3-on-3 being added to the olympics in 2020, the US is trying to catch up in a way with this league. Gaining interest for both men and women is going to be important in the year’s leading up to the 2020 olympics.

Similarly to my chat with Brian Custer, Jackson also recognizes that the BIG3’s success is based highly on the big names that go right along with it. Both Custer and Jackson believe the league will continue growing because big names will continue to be interested in playing.

The main thing I wanted to focus on while chatting with Jackson, was just what the BIG3 means to the players that are competing right now. Jackson spent many years in the NBA and even more years around professional basketball players. He is also a professional sports analyst, so he is a great source on what it is like in the mind of a BIG3 basketball player.

“These are players that still want to play,” Jackson said.

Once these NBA players retire, the competitive nature never leaves them. They want to win from the coaches all the way down to the last guy off the bench. Jackson also mentioned that even though these guys are still competing and want to win, their sportsmanship shows once the game is over.

It was an incredible opportunity being able to chat with Jim Jackson about his time in the NBA, with the Dallas Mavericks, and now covering the BIG3. As with Brian Custer, Jackson also believes that Power will win it all next weekend in the BIG3 championship.

If you can’t make it to American Airlines Center tonight, make sure you tune-in to see the Big3 LIVE on FOX starting at 6pm CT. And don’t miss the championship next Friday on FOX as well.