I'm not entirely certain who the first professional athlete that publicly wanted out of Milwaukee was, but I think it was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975. Frustrated by the Bucks regression, he asked for and received a trade back to the city he played college ball in, Los Angeles.
The rest, as they say, is history.
But Abdul-Jabbar has said in recent years that his frustrations here had nothing to do with the size of the city or that he wanted to practice his newly-found religion elsewhere.
"I can practice my faith anywhere,'' he told AOL News in 2010. "The Bucks weren't going to be vying for a championship any time soon. ... Oscar retired, so it was going to be a while before we got back to where we would be contenders.
"I wanted to go from Milwaukee to New York to go home, and New York couldn't make a deal. They had money but they didn't have the players that Milwaukee wanted. L.A. had players and money. So L.A. was my second home. I went to UCLA so I OK'd the deal. That's how it happened.''
The next time Abdul-Jabbar came to Milwaukee as a member of the Lakers, he was afforded a nice round of applause. After all, he had been the catalyst to the Bucks one and only NBA championship. In the years since, every time he has returned to the city in where he began his professional basketball career, the now 64-year old legend has been treated like a conquering hero.
But yet, he still wanted out of town at one point.
Gary Sheffield wanted out of Milwaukee as well. So much so that he intentionally committed errors in an effort to get traded from the Brewers. For the rest of his long, 22-year career, every at-bat in Milwaukee was met with a loud chorus of boos.
In 1992, upon being drafted by the Bucks in the first round of the NBA Draft, Todd Day was unknowingly on-camera and mic'd up when he uttered derisively "Milwaukee...damn."
Today, we have Stephen Jackson in our midst.
Tuesday night, Jackson was asked by Inside Milwaukee's Howie Magner whether or not he wanted to stay in here after landing squarely in coach Scott Skiles' doghouse.
Magner: "Do you still want to be here in Milwaukee?"
Jackson: "I can't answer that. You're trying to get me fined."
Magner: "No, I'm not. I'm just curious."
Jackson: "If I answer that I'll get fined though."
Magner: "OK. Fair enough."
Jackson: "I mean, I can't answer that."
Oh boy. Here we go again.
Stephen Jackson is an enigma. Some teammates and former coaches laud his team-first attitude. Then again, he was once charged with felony criminal recklessness and a number of misdemeanors, including assault, disorderly conduct, and two counts of battery.
Future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, however, called him an "ideal teammate." Jackson was was also once given his own day in San Francisco by then-Mayor Gavin Newsome and has been honored by the NBA for his community involvement.
Former Bucks coach Don Nelson has called Jackson "one of the finest people I have ever known."
Yet he has bounced from Phoenix to New Jersey, San Antonio, Atlanta, Indiana, Golden State, Charlotte and now Milwaukee in the NBA; along with other professional stops in LaCrosse, Sydney, Venezuela, San Carlos, Fort Wayne, and Pueblo Nuevo.
If Jackson were such a great guy, wouldn't it make sense that at least one of those teams would have wanted to keep him?
Now he wants out again.
It is an unfortunate fact, although not one shared by most players who have actually spent time here (notably Ray Allen, Michael Redd, and Andrew Bogut), but Milwaukee is considered one of the worst cities in the NBA to play in. The weather is cold, the arena is old (and some games half-empty), much of Downtown appears closed by 7:30 p.m., and the Bucks have not won consistently in almost a full generation.
To put it plainly, in terms of how most NBA players view Milwaukee, it might as well be Siberia.
That Jackson wanted a long-term extension as recently as a month ago makes you wonder what all the discord within this franchise is.
By and large, the Bucks organization is considered one of the classiest in the NBA. Their in-game entertainment rivals anyone in the league. Bucks ticket prices are on average the second lowest (only to Utah) in the NBA. Over the years, Sen. Kohl has spent (and overspent) for players and coaches that he thought would help this team win.
And yet here we are again with the team playing inconsistent basketball and at least one player on the brink of a mutiny.
I know that NBA players regularly host club parties, but the same night Jackson said without actually using the words that he wanted out of Milwaukee, he was the front man for the "Ballers, Bottles, and Models" event at the Vogue nightclub in Toronto.
Keep in mind that this party, also attended by Brandon Jennings, was just hours after a heartbreaking loss and the night before a road game as well. That Jackson was still able to drop in 17 points in 33 minutes against the Raptors Wednesday night makes you wonder how good he could be if he were actually motivated.
Maybe it is more perception than reality. But the fans that are shelling out hundreds of dollars for a night out with the Milwaukee Bucks deserve a player who wants to be here and is fully engaged in the task at hand. And even if you do go out, at least don't flaunt it right after a loss. Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots is being ripped this week for acting like a fool partying in the wee hours of the night following his team's loss in the Super Bowl.
Was Gronkowski the reason then Pats lost? Hardly, even with his bad ankle. But perceptions often times are reality in terms of how you are looked at by those that actually pay your salaries. When the player who came within one foot of changing who won and lost the biggest game of his career was seen partying shirtless like there is no tomorrow it gives the impression that he doesn't care, even if in reality it is harmless. It just was not necessary.
Speaking of which, Jackson's tweet Tuesday night of "If u not a real fan of mine or if u dont make 9mil per yr. or have more than 500 followers. Dont tweet me. Lmpao" probably wasn't his best move either. Harmless? You can decide for yourself. Necessary? Um, no.
With one defiant tweet, Stephen Jackson to some became a bad guy. Most people on Twitter do not make $9 million per year or have 500 followers. They do not need to be reminded of that.
Way to be a man of the people, Steve. So here is some unsolicited advice, whether he wants it or not.
The equation is pretty simple. If you truly don't want to be here, just let that be known. You weren't the first and won't be the last talented ballplayer to want to seek out greener pastures.
But there is the thing with you, Steve. Your time in the NBA is running thin. You have seemingly played for about one-third of the league already and your options at the age of 33 are running short. And even though you are demonstrating superior talent, many are now seeing another side of you that makes and wonder just exactly how talented you could be.
Even if it's just for the fans and not yourself, you would be doing us all a huge favor if you would just indulge us into believing that you care. Maybe we here in Milwaukee are over-sensitive. Maybe we just want to root for a winner year-round. But just for us, even if you are just acting, at least pretend you give a crap about this team and this city.
I hope that helps him realize that no one is out to get him. But the fact is, under the taskmaster that Scott Skiles is, a player cannot miss a shootaround and not land in the doghouse. You cannot host nightclub parties all over the continent and not have at least some people take that the wrong way - as in that your side jobs are more important to him than the full-time job he is being paid more than $9 million this year to do.
Whether this is fair or not is not the point. The point is because right now, Stephen Jackson is giving the impression that he just doesn't care.
Update: The original version of this story indicated that Jackson signed as a free agent, which was not the case. We regret the error.
Doug Russell has been covering Milwaukee and Wisconsin sports for over 20 years on radio, television, magazines, and now at OnMilwaukee.com.
Over the course of his career, the Edward R. Murrow Award winner and Emmy nominee has covered the Packers in Super Bowls XXXI, XXXII and XLV, traveled to Pasadena with the Badgers for Rose Bowls, been to the Final Four with Marquette, and saw first-hand the entire Brewers playoff runs in 2008 and 2011. Doug has also covered The Masters, several PGA Championships, MLB All-Star Games, and Kentucky Derbys; the Davis Cup, the U.S. Open, and the Sugar Bowl, along with NCAA football and basketball conference championships, and for that matter just about anything else that involves a field (or court, or rink) of play.
Doug was a sports reporter and host at WTMJ-AM radio from 1996-2000, before taking his radio skills to national syndication at Sporting News Radio from 2000-2007. From 2007-2011, he hosted his own morning radio sports show back here in Milwaukee, before returning to the national scene at Yahoo! Sports Radio last July. Doug's written work has also been featured in The Sporting News, Milwaukee Magazine, Inside Wisconsin Sports, and Brewers GameDay.
Doug and his wife, Erika, split their time between their residences in Pewaukee and Houston, TX.
