INDIANAPOLIS - The newest Pacer learned all he knows about Indiana from the movies.
``'Hoosiers,' the movie,'' Stephen Jackson said when asked what he knows about his new state. ``That's it. I know that. I've studied Jimmy's jump shot and tried to make it mine, but that didn't work. All I know is Larry Bird and 'Hoosiers,' that's it.''
The Pacers are hoping Jackson can bring the same deadeye shooting from the perimeter to their team that the fictitious Jimmy Chitwood brought to Hickory High. That's something the Pacers sorely lacked last season.
So they shipped fan favorite Al Harrington to the Atlanta Hawks for Jackson in a sign-and-trade deal on Thursday. Jackson signed a six-year contract worth $38 million to $44 million with the Hawks before being sent to Indiana.
The 24-year-old Harrington looking for a bigger role on a lesser team asked Pacers president Larry Bird for a trade after Indiana lost to Detroit in the Eastern Conference finals.
``Al wanted the chance to grow as a player,'' Harrington's agent, Andy Miller, said. ``That's not a knock on the Pacers they just have a lot more talent there right now. In Atlanta, there's a lot more room to develop. He can be a main player on that team and help them produce and win at a high level.''
Harrington is headed to a team that went 28-54 last season and has missed the playoffs five straight years. He averaged 13.3 points in nearly 31 minutes last season while finishing second in the voting for sixth man of the year.
``A lot of guys wouldn't be as excited as I am to be in Atlanta, but I feel like this is a great situation for me, for this city, for this organization, and that we're going to turn it around quickly,'' he said. ``They have all the right things in place.''
Bird and Pacers coach Rick Carlisle were sorry to see Harrington go. But they felt dealing one of the team's hardest workers was necessary to address a serious need for perimeter shooting.
``When you give up a guy like Al Harrington, who is one of your core pieces, you have to get back something good in return,'' Carlisle said. ``(Jackson) was just chest-bumping me in the hall, so he's going to bring a lot of energy, and he's a winner. He's done it at the highest levels.''
Jackson, who averaged a team-leading 18.1 points last season, is just happy to be out of Atlanta. After playing an integral role on San Antonio's championship team in 2002-03, Jackson spurned an offer from the Spurs and had to settle for a one-year, $1.1 million deal with the lowly Hawks.
He may have to come off the bench for a season in Indiana, as starting shooting guard Reggie Miller returns for an 18th season. But that's fine with Jackson, who is desperate for wins.
``I'm the type of player who will do anything to win a game,'' Jackson said. ``If I have to start a fight, whatever I have to do to help my team win, I'll do it. It's really that simple. It's about winning.''
Jackson said he was ecstatic to be playing in Indiana with associate head coach Mike Brown, who helped him mature into a well-rounded player in San Antonio after a long, frustrating road to the NBA.
After failing to qualify academically for the University of Arizona, Jackson was selected by Phoenix in the second round of the 1997 NBA draft, but was released in training camp.
He also spent time in the CBA, overseas and a season in New Jersey before becoming an integral part of San Antonio's championship team in 2002-03.
``If you don't go through things, then you don't appreciate it when you get to the good parts, like (championship) rings and stuff,'' Jackson said. ``Going through everything I went through, it's the best of me, I wouldn't change anything.''
Just as Jackson is familiar with Brown, Harrington knows Hawks general manager Billy Knight.
Knight helped draft Harrington while he was with the Pacers in 1998. Now he gives the former prep star from New Jersey the chance to take the next step in his quest to become a star.
``This is something I've been waiting for a long time,'' Harrington said.
Monday
April 21st, 2025
9:06PM
