Stephen Jackson was one of the premier players on the 2006-07 Golden State Warriors team that shocked the masses by defeating the No. 1 seed Dallas Mavericks as the No. 8 seed in their Western Conference quarterfinal matchup. No one gave the Warriors a chance, yet they won the series in convincing fashion (4-2).
However, they subsequently lost in the Western Conference semifinals to the Utah Jazz (4-1), so their run was short lived and considered a fluke.
But the team is certainly not a fluke in Jackson’s mind. On Thursday during an appearance on ESPN, Jackson made quite a bold claim, guaranteeing the 2006-07 Warriors would beat the current team in a seven-game series.
Stephen Jackson guarantees on “The Jump” that his 2007 Warriors would beat this year’s team. https://t.co/NQeurIocjG
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 25, 2016
Jackson opined:
“My Warriors team would beat today’s Warriors team! I guarantee that,” said Jackson. “We beat the one-seed. We beat the one-seed,” Jackson repeated. He did give the current Warriors respect, saying “they’re great. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great.”
The 2006-07 Warriors were beloved in the Bay Area, as that group took the franchise to the playoffs for the first time in 13 years. However, keep in mind they were a 42-40 team that barely cemented a postseason berth.
The 2015-16 Warriors are 52-5 and are drawing comparisons to the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, which many consider to be the best team in NBA history.
If Jackson had been asked which team was better, I would totally understand where he was coming from with this outrageous statement. But he wasn’t asked. Instead, this was something he randomly blurted out, which makes me believe deep down he might believe this to be true.
However, we all know nothing could be further from reality.
