Stephen Jackson Finally Signed By Hawks

Hawks Sign Free Agent Stephen Jackson

ATLANTA, GA (October 3, 2003) ----- Atlanta Hawks General Manager Billy Knight today announced the signing of free agent guard/forward Stephen Jackson to a contract. Per team policy, terms were not announced.

“Obviously we are pleased to add Stephen to our team,� said Knight. “He’s a proven winner who was a major contributor on San Antonio’s championship team last season and he has the versatility to play both wing positions for us. He has tremendous growth potential and we are ecstatic to add a player of his caliber to our team.�

Jackson is coming off personal highs in virtually every statistical category in 80 games for the NBA Championship Spurs, with averages of 11.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.6 steals in 28.2 minutes of action. He hit 43.5 of his FG attempts and 32 percent of his shots from the three-point area. San Antonio’s third-leading scorer a year ago, Jackson tallied a career-high of 28 points against the Los Angeles Lakers on November 20, 2002.

“This is where I wanted to be from the beginning,� said Jackson. “Hopefully this is the start of great things for me and the Hawks organization. I want to contribute right away and help this team win. Shareef (Abdur-Rahim) and I go back to our days in Vancouver (training camp 1999) and I’ve known JT (Jason Terry) since his days in Arizona. We all have the same goal and that’s to make the playoffs and win a championship, and I’m happy to do whatever I can to help us achieve that goal. It's been a long summer, but this is where I wanted to be from the beginning and I’m happy we were able to accomplish that today.

“I appreciate the time I spent with the Spurs, where I learned a great deal from playing with guys like Tim (Duncan) and David (Robinson) and I hope to bring those same experiences to Atlanta.�

In the 2003 Playoffs, Jackson was third in scoring behind Duncan and Tony Parker, with 12.8 ppg. During the Finals against New Jersey, he started every game and recorded 10.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists, as the Spurs beat his former team in the series, four games to two.

FabFourLakers wrote:The hawks will actually have a DECENT starting lineup:

Ratliff(if healthy)
Abdur-Rahim
Nailon
Jackson
Terry

OR

Ratliff
Abdur-Rahim
Jackson
Glover
Terry

ORRR

Ratliff
Abdur-Rahim
Nailon
Glover
Terry

i like their starting lineup...they definetly filled their voids at SF and SG....they are the late winners of this year's offseason....