Pastor Mark Jackson may not have come out with guns blazing during his appearance Wednesday on the Dan Patrick Show, but he did have some interesting comment about his firing while trying to take the high road.
Warning that his former employers weren't satisfied with a 51-win season, Jackson acknowledged Patrick's theory of a Golden State front office conspiracy to cut ties with the third-year-coach.
Patrick said he felt like he had a lot of information about Jackson's situation - from his alleged incident in banning Warriors consultant Jerry West from practice, to Jackson's unwillingness to move from Southern California, to the issue about problems with his assistants - that seemed to be leaked from the Warriors front office.
"There was stuff that was almost propaganda, it felt like, that was setting you up that ‘this is why we couldn't keep this guy," Patrick said in his phone interview with Jackson.
"I will say this. You did know a lot, but you also heard a lot of lies," Jackson said. "Jerry West wasn't banned from practice."
"This is big business. There was certainly a lot of stuff that was told and lied about and leaked and some of it and some of it wind(s) up being true as far as my job being at risk and friction and people believing I didn't have relationships and all of that. The problem is that everybody wants the glory.... When you're looking for the finger to be pointed at you, sometimes it's frustrating when other folks get credit.
"There's a way to do things, and when people lie against you, and people make up stories, at the end of the day, the evidence against it will be how you conduct yourself. The evidence against it will be how you talk to people, how you treat people, how you handle adversity. I'm going to walk and take the high road."
Jackson also revealed that his meeting Tuesday morning with owner Joe Lacob and general manager Bob Meyers was not a one-sided parting of the ways. Patrick asked Jackson whether he thought the Warriors would've fired him if his team had gotten past the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the playoffs.
"I'm blessed. I'm at peace, and I'll tell you the truth: If we advance, do I still have a job?" Jackson said. "I'm not really sure, because at the end of the day, we both walked into the meeting and we both were frustrated," he said. "That's [what] the crazy thing was. Nothing was leaked on my side, because I felt the same way and I had issues. Going into that office, my mind was made up. It wasn't a one-way decision."
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