Jackson signs, awaits Warriors' move By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle For five months, Marc Jackson could only wait and watch. The 6-10 center danced a bit with a few interested teams, particularly the Sonics and Pacers, but had to wait for the one he wanted. But the Rockets got some spending money Friday and within hours -- maybe minutes, he said -- they had a deal to sign Jackson. Within a few hours, Jackson was in Houston meeting with assistant coach Larry Smith and by Saturday night had officially signed a contract to be with the team he wanted all along. "It was frustrating," Jackson said. "It's been a weird summer. Opportunity came. I was a free agent. I wanted to look at the market and see what happened. You only live once. I worked my tail off all my life. I think I deserved to look around. I wanted to look at the options. "No matter what happened in July and August, I'm happy I'm with the Houston Rockets now. Hopefully the Warriors will let me get on with my life." A player who spent three seasons in Europe honing skills would seem well-trained for patience. But the Warriors, having shown little interest in signing Jackson, could make him wait 15 days to move on. The Rockets and Warriors have begun to negotiate a deal in which the Warriors would agree not to exercise their right to match Jackson's contract. But Jackson said he is ready to move on now. "I'm in better shape than I was last year," Jackson said. "I'm minus the injuries. I worked extremely hard on some things I wanted to after last season. I'm here. I'm ready to play." Lakers going without stars -- Because of a death in his family, Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant didn't take the team's chartered flight to Hawaii for the start of training camp Saturday. Bryant returned to Philadelphia to attend his grandfather's funeral, scheduled for Wednesday. Bryant will join the team in Hawaii on Thursday. Shaquille O'Neal was at the team's two Saturday practices, but didn't work out. He's recovering from surgery on Aug. 29 to repair a toe on his left foot. The absence of his two star players didn't bother Lakers coach Phil Jackson. "They'll make it up," Jackson said of Bryant and O'Neal. "Camps are really not for those guys as much as it is for players that are new to our system that we're trying to see if they can help our team. Or players that we hope get some experience that have been inexperienced in past years." With that duo out, it gives Samaki Walker and Lindsey Hunter a chance to get more work. "You have to really pay attention mentally and just learn," Hunter said. Chronicle news services contributed to this report. Wow. This is big. Feigen has either made a major mistake TWICE, or crispee, myself, and others are misinterpreting a fairly clear CBA passage. Jackson says he's healthy, and has worked on his game. He sounds a lot like Mo Taylor after the signing last year. Link to the article.
