Why is Bobby Jackson such a fan favorite?

RalphySampson

RalphySampson

G-League
OK, I know that by posting this I'm sure I'll get flamed for picking on Bobby J, but hear me out. I'm just curious as to why he's so loved here in Sacramento. First of all, his game has diminished severly and he really should be the 3rd string PG on this squad. Now that's not really his fault so I won't pick on him for that. To me, he just doesn't have that dynamic personality that fans usually go for. Vlade is a perfect example of that. Great teammate, great personality. He was easy to fall in love with.

Sure we had some great years with Bobby, but we would have had those years without him. The last couple of years, he was chronically hurt and didn't really do anything for us. I'm just not really getting it. It's not like he's on the bench waving towels for the players on the floor. It is just that he's a reminder of what we had 5 years ago?

Please enlighten me.
 
For me:

1. His energy off the bench (both as a player and a teammate)

2. His lovable smile and his big heart.

3. The fact that his name is Bobby (just a personal thing, plus i think Bobby Jackson just rolls of the tongue perfectly :))

4. His respect for the fans. (And boy do I ever respect Bobby. For me I respect him the most out of the championship contending core. He never did anything wrong, on or off the court. He always seemed to give his best. And he had no controversies whatsoever, from what I remember. Except for that fight between T-Mac which I loved anways :D www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdaNzrZva9U)

5. A number of his highlight reels. (I always loved the reverse layups in traffic he would use to do, even after his days in sactown http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=OQuOsMonFMY)

6. The fact that he had a very important role in the days (in the first half of this decade), when we actually had a chance to win an NBA Championship. Absolutely LOVED HIM, coming off the bench. Like I said, you could always count on him to give us that energy and spark off the bench.

7. And the most important thing (to me anyways :P) was the long socks he wears =). I always thought he looked cool playing in the long black socks with the black shoes. (back when we wore black shoes and black socks with our home jersey.)
 
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I think what makes Bobby so likable is that he plays all out on every single play. You will see him play harassing d on the other player and see him diving for loose balls. Offensively he is not afraid to take the big shots, whether it be knocking down the three ball or going to the basket for a crazy layup. The energy he brings off the bench electrifies his team and the fans because of his all out play.
 
and beyond basketball, he's a fixture in the sacramento community. i don't even live there and i know he's done charitable work for the folks in that area. he's one of the good guys in the league, which is why the fans resonate so well with him.
 
Because unlike Kevin Martin and most of the other Kings he actually has a pleasant personality. He has been fun to watch and loyal to Sacramento.
 
He was important to that old team and no they would not have been the same without him. He did win Sixth Man of the Year, after all.

You knew he would always give you everything he had and more. He never complained and did whatever he was asked to do. He has always been willing to help the young guys learn. He's a terrific human being and has contributed so much to this community. He's always been gracious to the fans.

He loved his mom so much and wasn't too macho to show it (I'm a Mom, that gets extra points from me.;)) He loves Sacramento back and has never given up his home in the area.

And its clear that his teammates loved Bobby. I don't think it happens often, that an entire team goes out of their way in the middle of a road trip to take long bus rides, just so they can be at the funeral of a teammate's mom.

As far as I'm concerned, he gave the fans everything we could expect from a player and more, including loyalty. Our respect, loyalty and love has been paid for with every 110% effort, every injury, every charitable act and every friendly attention to a fan.
 
A 5'11" or so, Bobby Jackson is larger than life. He's absolutely fearless on the basketball court. He played every single play harder than anyone on the team. He would challenge the biggest and best players at the basket without hesitation. He'd jump on the floor after a loose ball. Bobby grabbed way more rebounds than a guy his size had any right to get. He played great defense on that end and hit threes and impossible layups on the other end. He would come into a game where the Kings were down and rattle off 10 points in 10 minutes, getting the crowd into the game. He worked hard on his game and once played with a broken face (orbital bone). Bobby cares about Sacramento enough that he keeps his offseason home here. The quality person he is always came through in his interviews. The right question is: How could Bobby Jackson NOT be such a fan favorite?
 
Ok, I'll admit. When I first saw the title of this thread, anger came over me. lol. I was like, "what?!?!"

However, I will answer like this: When the Kings were in the prime back in the day....

Bobby was one of few kings who you could depend on to bring that extra hustle.

Bobby was one of the few Kings that would dive in the stands for a loose ball.

Bobby was one of the few Kings that played defense.

He was clutch.
He had heart.
He was our 6th man, that at times deserved to start.

He was one of the few Kings that wouldn't take crap off of other teams.
And now, let me tell you --- he will be all of that again this year.

And even if age and injury begin to slow him down, his leadership to Beno, Kevin, Cisco and the others will be invaluable.
 
RalphySampson said:
OK, I know that by posting this I'm sure I'll get flamed for picking on Bobby J, but hear me out. I'm just curious as to why he's so loved here in Sacramento. First of all, his game has diminished severly and he really should be the 3rd string PG on this squad. Now that's not really his fault so I won't pick on him for that. To me, he just doesn't have that dynamic personality that fans usually go for. Vlade is a perfect example of that. Great teammate, great personality. He was easy to fall in love with.

Sure we had some great years with Bobby, but we would have had those years without him. The last couple of years, he was chronically hurt and didn't really do anything for us. I'm just not really getting it. It's not like he's on the bench waving towels for the players on the floor. It is just that he's a reminder of what we had 5 years ago?

Please enlighten me.
Click to expand...

Bobby Jackson is a lot like your favorite flavor of ice cream. You just like him and most probably have since the first time you saw him.

Bobby is all the things I talk about in my PBPs - he's heart and hustle, energy and excitement. BUT he's also more. He's not a publicity hound; he's a team player. He's a good dad and he's an asset on and off the court.

Bobby Jackson is a reminder that you can have players on your team who can indeed be fan favorites because of who they are, not in spite of it.
 
Two reasons I love him:

1) he is a tough guy who will go get the ball in a crowd.

2) he was an elite defender who back in the day often got the benefit of the doubt from the refs (I remember he nearly pulled Kobe's shorts off once in the playoffs and got away with it).
 
RalphySampson said:
OK, I know that by posting this I'm sure I'll get flamed for picking on Bobby J, but hear me out. I'm just curious as to why he's so loved here in Sacramento. First of all, his game has diminished severly and he really should be the 3rd string PG on this squad. Now that's not really his fault so I won't pick on him for that. To me, he just doesn't have that dynamic personality that fans usually go for. Vlade is a perfect example of that. Great teammate, great personality. He was easy to fall in love with.

Sure we had some great years with Bobby, but we would have had those years without him. The last couple of years, he was chronically hurt and didn't really do anything for us. I'm just not really getting it. It's not like he's on the bench waving towels for the players on the floor. It is just that he's a reminder of what we had 5 years ago?

Please enlighten me.
Click to expand...

I may be biased due to B-Jax being my favorite all-time king, but I'm pretty sure most fans agree:

1. The guy gives a 150% all the time. Even with the great teams we had, you could always depend on Bobby J to bring it night and night out.

2. He's got some big stones. The guy will back down from no one and does not wilt when the pressure is on. I still have no idea why he was not on the floor game 7 in crunch time in the WCF. The guy was absolutely taking it to the Lakers that series and along with Bibby had ice water in his veins.

3. One of the classiest individuals you will ever meet. Treats everyone the same-with respect. Whether your a player, coach, ball boy or fan, Bobby Jackson will treat you with the utmost respect.

4. He was a bad-*ss player when he was here. I disagree with your assertion that we would have done the same things without him. Without him we would have had a harder time getting by the Mavs in the semifinals and probably wouldn't have gone as far as we did with the Lakers. We actually, IMO, lost due to him not being on the floor in crunch time of game 7(that and sub 50% FT's) He also carried us at the beginning of the following season when Bibby was out with a stress fracture in his foot.

All seem like good reasons to me.
 
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RalphySampson said:
OK, I know that by posting this I'm sure I'll get flamed for picking on Bobby J, but hear me out. I'm just curious as to why he's so loved here in Sacramento. First of all, his game has diminished severly and he really should be the 3rd string PG on this squad. Now that's not really his fault so I won't pick on him for that. To me, he just doesn't have that dynamic personality that fans usually go for. Vlade is a perfect example of that. Great teammate, great personality. He was easy to fall in love with.

Sure we had some great years with Bobby, but we would have had those years without him. The last couple of years, he was chronically hurt and didn't really do anything for us. I'm just not really getting it. It's not like he's on the bench waving towels for the players on the floor. It is just that he's a reminder of what we had 5 years ago?

Please enlighten me.
Click to expand...

"Those years" as you put it, were had WITH HIM. It took everyone on the team and in the rotation to create "those years". B-Jax brought the Kings back in games numerous times with his spark off the bench. Just because he isn't what he once was does not mean the fans won't respect and appreciate his impact on this franchise.
 
RalphySampson said:
OK, I know that by posting this I'm sure I'll get flamed for picking on Bobby J, but hear me out. I'm just curious as to why he's so loved here in Sacramento. First of all, his game has diminished severly and he really should be the 3rd string PG on this squad. Now that's not really his fault so I won't pick on him for that. To me, he just doesn't have that dynamic personality that fans usually go for. Vlade is a perfect example of that. Great teammate, great personality. He was easy to fall in love with.

Sure we had some great years with Bobby, but we would have had those years without him. The last couple of years, he was chronically hurt and didn't really do anything for us. I'm just not really getting it. It's not like he's on the bench waving towels for the players on the floor. It is just that he's a reminder of what we had 5 years ago?

Please enlighten me.
Click to expand...

First, let me say, that in my heart of hearts, I think you already know the answer, and therefore the thread is pointless, and certainly has nothing to do with the current preformance of the team.

However, in case you do need enlightening, lets review your last paragraph. In the first half of your first sentence, you answer your own question. Taking the second half of the sentence literally. Yes we would have had those years without him. Of couse they wouldn't have been the same, and probably not as good. But I think your implication is that he didn't matter, and we would have been just as good without him.

Well, there's no way to prove a negative. There's no way to prove how good or bad the Kings would have been without him or with someone else instead. Therefore its a pointless observation.

He did have a few injuries the last couple of years he was here, but I wouldn't call them chronic ( look up the word ). They were legitiment injuries that anyone could have had. Especially, someone that plays as hard as Bobby did. Granted, the older a player gets the more often little nagging injuries occur.

As far as being a reminder of what we were five years ago. I think thats a good thing. Not for the fans, but for the Donte Greene's and Jason Thompsons on the team. It may be true, that its hard to teach an old dog new tricks, but an old dog can teach a young dog old tricks. Whereas I used to train hunting dogs, I can attest to the truth of that statement.

In your first paragraph, you mentioned Bobby's personality not being the type fans go for. What fans go for, is a player that busts his butt out on the floor. A player thats tough and plays with heart and desire, and leaves it all out there, on the floor. Thats what Bobby did. He wasn't the most talented, but he was one of the fiercest competitors we had. He was fearless and always thought he could win. Personality will only take you so far. You'll see players with great personalities get booed when they don't perform up to fans expectations.

Its all about performance mi amigo. Not personality. And Bobby performed.
 
RalphySampson said:
OK, I know that by posting this I'm sure I'll get flamed for picking on Bobby J, but hear me out. I'm just curious as to why he's so loved here in Sacramento. First of all, his game has diminished severly and he really should be the 3rd string PG on this squad. Now that's not really his fault so I won't pick on him for that. To me, he just doesn't have that dynamic personality that fans usually go for. Vlade is a perfect example of that. Great teammate, great personality. He was easy to fall in love with.

Sure we had some great years with Bobby, but we would have had those years without him. The last couple of years, he was chronically hurt and didn't really do anything for us. I'm just not really getting it. It's not like he's on the bench waving towels for the players on the floor. It is just that he's a reminder of what we had 5 years ago?

Please enlighten me.
Click to expand...

Uhhhh, because the Kings fans stick behind the players that made the team what it is/was. If you were a fan you would know why BJax is a fan favorite...

If this was his first year here I am sure people would wonder why he is here, but all of us fans that go way back are more than happy to have him retire here whether or not he puts up big numbers. He will always get a standing O by me.

Not being the type of players fans go for? Remember when he dove into the crowd for a loose ball and the woman was kissing his head while BJax had that huge grin? Yah... Fans don't go for a guy like BJax..

I call troll..
 
Gary said:
Uhhhh, because the Kings fans stick behind the players that made the team what it is/was. If you were a fan you would know why BJax is a fan favorite...

If this was his first year here I am sure people would wonder why he is here, but all of us fans that go way back are more than happy to have him retire here whether or not he puts up big numbers. He will always get a standing O by me.

Not being the type of players fans go for? Remember when he dove into the crowd for a loose ball and the woman was kissing his head while BJax had that huge grin? Yah... Fans don't go for a guy like BJax..

I call troll..
Click to expand...

yes that is exactly true "Kings fans stick behind the players that made the team what it is/was"
Remember when he dove into the crowd for a loose ball and the woman was kissing his head while BJax had that huge grin?
i remember that time exactly that was so funny
 
Remember the first series Sac played against Dallas 7 or so years ago? Dallas started to take control of the game and as soon as Bobby Jackson came in that was put to an end. He just kept driving, doing reverse layup after reverse layup and Dallas had no answer for him. The was fl ying all over and getting knocked around but the shots kept going in. The Kings ended up winning that game as well as the series.
 
I loved the play against the Spurs where there was a few seconds left and we were down by 1 I think and Bobby stole the ball from Parker at half court and layed it up for us at the buzzer.
 
Jechtsphere said:
If you were a fan of the Kings when he played with us last then it would be obvious why he is so loved.
Click to expand...

Exactly. It goes way beyond just the stats. He was always the energy guy off of the bench to give this team the spark it needed (hence he won the 6th man award). He gave 100% and made key plays when we needed it the most. On top of that, he is one of the good guys in the league. I remember watching him when he played in college at Minnesota too. So I was excited even when he first came to Sacramento.
 
basically what everyone else said. There's some players that you will never forget and will always root for and Bobby J is one of them.
 
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