He got his money, now he’s trying to get his location, so what if he tries to work the system a little bit? He’s not giving an FU to the Warriors, simply stating his personal preferences. I agree nobody wants to trade him and he’ll stay on the Warriors, and play the same he did last year. Not a big deal at all. The problem is the fans that are misinterpreting this and crying because it hurt their feelings. All I’m interested is the Warriors success on the court, and this has 0 bearing on it whatsoever. Jack’s simply trying to put himself in the best situation for him, I could care less.

Then we can touch on the whole fairness issue and look at how a team can trade a player who might take a discount to play for them despite the players wishes to say – why should the player, once he’s got his money, not be able to get himself traded where he wants to go?

I just don’t see the issue that’s got Warriors fans feeling all butthurt.

they expect a player to be loyal to a team in an environment where the team has no obligation to be loyal to the player

Not exactly. Jackson has a guaranteed contract (that the Warriors gave him when they did not have to and, many people think, it was not in their best interest to have done so.) The Warriors organization has not only demonstrated loyalty to Jackson, they have signed a contract that obligates them to continue to do so (monetarily at a minimum.) If this were an issue of Jackson being a free agent, your reasoning would be correct. It is not. Jackson committed to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for guaranteed monetary compensation. Jackson has just as much an obligation to make sure the Warriors get full value out of this arrangement as the Warriors do to pay him. Avoidable actions that reduce his value to the team – like demanding a trade publicly – are, to a degree, a breach of that contract. Getting what he wants (guaranteed money) and then not being willing to do what he promised to to get it (play for the Warriors to the best of his ability) because he wants something else now (to play for a championship or closer to home or with his buddy) is dishonest.

You can argue that Jackson didn’t demand a trade, but rather expressed that he expected a trade (had asked for it?) and had a preference to play for a contender or in Texas or with the Knicks. In that case it makes for a bad sound bite, was probably not wise, but really isn’t a big deal. (I think this is where things really stand. If not, its where the Warriors want to pretend it stands. This is why they are making the statements they are.)

 If he comes back and plays hard, fulfilling his obligation, there is no problem. If he and the Warriors work out a trade (or buyout?) that provides significantly equivalent (or better) value to the Warriors, there is also no problem. If he takes the money and pouts until he gets out of town, the Warriors may not be able to do anything, but that is dishonest.

As for leadership, what exactly are your expectations of Jack? I have problems with the way he argues with refs and doesn’t always give a consistent effort on D. I’m just unsure how him wanting to play for a championship contender really relates to leadership and the leadership expectations people have of Jack at all.

“A leader shows the right way by going first” is a concept a teacher of mine taught me. I think he attributed it to Gothe. Jackson is a captain of the team. He was extended, at least in part, for his leadership roles. As such, I expect him to show the Warriors “the right way” to play NBA basketball. To an extent he has done this: he worked hard, didn’t give up, played with confidence, took responsibility for winning rather than just conceding failure, and tried to enable his teammates to do well. Unfortunately, he also shows a rather poor example in some respects: arguing with refs, not having faith in team mates, being unable or unwilling to see his own faults, making ill-advised choices, “gettin’ paid” and than looking to get out of town. His most recent comments indicate that the best way to win a championship is not to make yourself and the team you are on better, but to latch on to a team with better players. It is giving up. It is giving in. It is a lack of faith. It is understandable and human; it is not leadership and is not what we’ve come to expect from Stephen Jackson over the last few years.