Jackson says fan heckling is ‘out of control’
New York — At a certain point, it seemed Reggie Jackson had had enough — and he responded.
A video posted on Deadspin.com showed the Pistons point guard hurling expletives at someone a few rows behind the bench during last week’s matchup against the Thunder in Oklahoma City.
It’s unclear what was said to Jackson to provoke the response — the audio isn’t clear — but he seemed to settle the score with the heckler.
Asked about the incident following last weekend’s game against the Nets at Barclays Center, Jackson didn’t respond, but spoke in generalities.
“I don’t necessarily know what (incident) you’re talking about,” Jackson said. “Fans say some off-the-wall stuff. It’s crazy how we get treated. They get to talk to you however they want. It’s reckless.”
The issue of player-fan interactions turning violent reached a boiling point last week when 76ers rookie Jahlil Okafor was involved with a fan in Boston during an early-morning physical altercation.
While Jackson’s incident didn’t escalate to that level, it brings to question where the line between good-natured ribbing and heckling lies and crossing that line into an incendiary incident.
“I wish somebody would say something like they talk to us on the court, off the court. It’s out of control,” Jackson said. “You wouldn’t talk to anybody like that off the court. They feel protected in the stands — some fans need to be tossed.”
Jackson spent the first three years of his career with the Thunder before being traded to the Pistons last season.
Offense remains stagnant
While the Pistons rank among the NBA’s worst offensive teams, they continue to struggle to trigger their offense, with their loss to the Nets providing the latest evidence.
“When we play good, we do our jobs and know our role — it doesn’t matter who we play,” said Jackson, who had eight points — one off his season low — six rebounds and nine assists. “We haven’t played well against so-called lesser teams, but for some reason we don’t do our jobs when we play lesser teams.
“With the good teams in the league, everybody does their job. Just do your job.”
The frustration from losing 5-of-8 since their 5-1 start is starting to set in, especially with the stagnant offense. The issue continues to be ball movement and trying to create higher-percentage shots for teammates.
Now, it seems, the issue is passing up open shots and trying to create better shots.
“We’ve got a lot of new players and trying to figure it out,” Jackson said. “We’re still figuring out our ups and downs and taking our bumps and bruises and trying to move along this season.”
rod.beard@detroitnews.com
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