Mark Jackson talks about the top three trash talkers he played against in the NBA
Mark Jackson played in the NBA for almost two decades, but three players stood out to him as premier trash-talkers. Mark Jackson entered the league in 1987, the perfect time to play against some of the NBA’s biggest names. Since he was a starter playing for the New York Knicks, Jackson had his fair share of encounters with other players, as he was subject to numerous trash-talk battles.
During his 17-year-long career, Mark has three players on his best-ever trash-talker list, which includes legendary names like Gary Payton, Charles Barkley, and Larry Bird.
Mark’s experience with Gary Payton
Mark spoke about how he was supposed to be teammates with Payton in college. Since Jackson was an older player, he was the veteran who took Gary under his wing during the recruitment process for St. John’s University.
During his short visit, Gary fell in love with the idea of playing for the Red Storm, but unfortunately, the program couldn’t find a way to fit him in. It was the first time Jackson experienced being with Payton, and he immediately saw that The Glove had a huge personality. That personality translated well into on-court play, as GP always finds a way to leave an impression on his opponents through trash talk.
Jackson and Barkley got in trouble for “betting”
In 1990, Jackson and Barkley got in trouble with Commissioner David Stern due to reports stating that the two stars were involved in a friendly wager. Reportedly, they had a $500 bet about which of them would make the big play in a game between the Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers.
However, Mark has cleared up the air about that situation, as he stated it was a prime example of Barkley’s trash-talking abilities.
“In my second year, I believe, playing for the Knicks, he was playing for the Philadelphia 76ers. I’m not a natural scorer, but this is one of those days that I had it going. Down the stretch of the game, I’m scoring, he’s scoring, we’re talking trash to each other,” Jackson said on The Mark Jackson Show. “End of the game, we finally win. Get to the locker room, and Media runs towards me, media tells me ‘Charles Barkley said you bet on the game.’”
Jackson says all the Bird trash talk stories are true
When people bring up NBA trash-talkers, Bird always comes up. Jackson talked about that, considering that was a big part of Larry’s greatness. He was an unorthodox player who would call out what he would do and do it exactly like that.
Any defender playing against Bird would attest to him being an elite trash-talker who would get under their skin because of how good he was when playing in that trash-talking mode.
These stories regarding trash talk showcased how much players of that era valued getting under opponents’ skin because it worked and became part of the game, as it threw off some players.
