Josh Jackson cancels workout with Celtics

gyso wrote:Somewhere out there, Papa Ball's crying.

CHESS club! wrote:Surprisingly, off the floor Jackson is quiet and even something of a nerd.

While he played for Prolific Prep, Jackson attended Justin-Sienna High School in Napa, a Catholic school with a tuition of nearly $19,000 and a 13-1 student-teacher ratio. He started a chess club at the school and is a National Honor Society member. Most of his high school buddies were members of the Justin-Sienna lacrosse team.

“Off the court, he is really very quiet, passive,” Prolific Prep director of operations Phillippe Doherty said. “He is very good with adults. He’s very good with kids. He’s been raised really well. If you see him deal with media, he’s mature. The other kids aren’t a mature as he is. You can have a 30-minute conversation with him and he’s totally in tune …

“Other teenagers yearn for attention. He doesn’t need it.”

Jackson’s mother, Apple Jones, said she wanted her son to move to Napa before his junior year for a stronger education.

ESPN basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla compared Jackson’s competitive drive to that of Minnesota Timberwolves power forward Kevin Garnett.

“Every drill, he wants to be first,” Fraschilla said of Jackson. “Every scrimmage, he wants to be the best. He just has an alpha dog mentality. He still has things he has to work on to improve. But in this class going into college next year, he’s as intense a player as there is in terms of his attitude as I’ve seen in the last five to 10 years.”

Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star “Kevin Durant took my breath away with his talent. But this kid, he wants to win every single drill,” Fraschilla said. “Whoever is on the court who is considered at his level, he wants to guard them and dominate them.”

As a junior with Napa Prolific Prep, Jackson once yelled at a player he was guarding on the perimeter, “Pass the ball!” over and over. Eventually, the Division 1 prospect got intimidated and passed the ball. Jackson briefly smiled at the mini victory. He also is known to push his teammates to their limits with his tough love in games and trash-talking in practice.

“I want to win. I feel like any player, if you play the sport of basketball, on the court you have to be a tough guy no matter what. I don’t care who you are. Off the court, I don’t necessarily need to be that guy. But you do on the court,” Jackson said.

Ayton, considered by many to be the top prep player in the class of 2017, said Jackson is the “most competitive player I’ve ever played against.”

“He knows how to get in your head,” Ayton said. “I don’t know what type of energy he runs off of. He’s fast. He’s very unpredictable. He can shoot. Guard the post. Strong. The dude is just a freak of nature.”

Perhaps the only time Jackson has met his match in mouthiness on the court was when he went up against Green, the vocal All-Star forward, in a pickup game in Detroit two years go. Green chose to guard Jackson and made a point to trash-talk to him and stop him from scoring. While Green accomplished his defensive goal, he respected Jackson for never backing down. They’ve been close ever since.

No, (Gary) Payton hadn’t bumped into basketball greats Michael Jordan or Reggie Miller at the concession stand. Amazingly, one of the high school players had successfully poked the old bear.

His name is Josh Jackson, and he possesses both a standout game that could make him the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NBA draft and trash-talking skills that already compete with the likes of all-star yappers Payton and Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors.

“He blocked Gary Payton’s son’s shot and then Josh looked at him. That’s what set Gary off. That’s just Josh. Dude is having fun,” said Hillcrest Hoops Prep Academy rising senior center DeAndre Ayton, who plays with Payton’s son, Julian.

Jackson, 19, said: “It was crazy. It was real funny. In my years I never thought I would be in a gym talking smack to Gary Payton.”

Jackson’s elite game means he can walk the walk with all that talk.

Rmbone wrote:Jackson doesn't want to get caught up in Brad's depth chart. If we don't take him anyway, he's going to be a Laker and haunt us. Fultz won't haunt us like that.

fierce wrote:

Rmbone wrote:Jackson doesn't want to get caught up in Brad's depth chart. If we don't take him anyway, he's going to be a Laker and haunt us. Fultz won't haunt us like that.

Now that's being ridiculous.

You're already sure that Jackson will end up being better than Fultz in the NBA?

Right now nobody knows for sure how their careers will turn out.

Unless of course you've already been to the future.

Rmbone wrote:

fierce wrote:

Rmbone wrote:Jackson doesn't want to get caught up in Brad's depth chart. If we don't take him anyway, he's going to be a Laker and haunt us. Fultz won't haunt us like that.

Now that's being ridiculous.

You're already sure that Jackson will end up being better than Fultz in the NBA?

Right now nobody knows for sure how their careers will turn out.

Unless of course you've already been to the future.

Go ahead and doubt me. All of Celtics fandom is being completely ridiculous right now.

kdp59 wrote:Like they always say we won't know for sure until 3 years after the draft.

I'd take either one myself.