Jackson ready to lead Bucks to the playoffs

MILWAUKEE — Stephen Jackson didn't waste any time clearing up reports that he was unhappy about being traded to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Jackson was introduced to the Milwaukee media inside the Bradley Center on Wednesday morning, and the 33-year-old forward was all smiles as he entered the room alongside coach Scott Skiles and general manager John Hammond.

"What's up, everybody?" Jackson said before he even took a seat. He then winked to his girlfriend sitting in the second row.

Over the next 20 minutes, he spoke with a refreshing blend of honesty, thoughtfulness and humor.

"I'm definitely happy to be here," Jackson said. "I'm excited. I want to win. This is a great place to win. A lot of guys have sour feelings about being traded, but I'm still playing basketball and doing what I love to do."

Part of the reason Jackson had a positive attitude about the trade was that new teammates Brandon Jennings and Andrew Bogut both sent him enthusiastic text messages as soon as they heard about the deal.

"I was just telling Coach that Brandon and Andrew were the first guys to reach out to me, which was great," Jackson said. "I didn't expect to get a text from Andrew. I knew I was going to get a text from Brandon, but I didn't expect to get a text from Andrew. But that definitely put a smile on my face to know he's thinking like I'm thinking already. 'Let's have a great year and make history.' Just by having those guys reach out to me made me feel accepted, and I'm happy I have teammates like that."

Jennings even showed up during the news conference, standing in the back of the room with a smile on his face. Both players attended Oak Hill Academy, albeit 12 years apart.

"I've got a great relationship with him," Jennings said. "He's just a winner. When you get two winners together, you just bond and you just get along easily."

A few hours after the trade was made official on draft night – a deal in which the Bucks acquired Jackson, Beno Udrih and Shaun Livingston in a three-team swap with Charlotte and Sacramento – Hammond made it known that he wants Jackson to speak up in the locker room, adding that the team "needs leadership."

That idea of being a leader for Milwaukee works well for Jackson, who has played 11 years in the NBA and won a championship in 2003 in a major role for the San Antonio Spurs.

"It's not going to be something that (Skiles) has to ask me to do; it comes natural," Jackson said of his leadership abilities. "Being a leader is nothing you can teach. With me having a lot of success in this league, I think guys will respect that. But at the same time, I'm going to lead by example. I'm going to gain my respect by playing hard and going out there and trying to win games every night. I think as those guys see how hard I approach playing and how I approach winning, I think it will carry on through the rest of the team. As long as I lead by example, everything will be OK."

Jackson has a few different motivational techniques to help teammates get through the 82-game regular-season schedule.

"If it takes a slap, a fight, whatever it takes, we're here to win games," Jackson said. "This is not high school, and we're not doing any babysitting. We have to be on the same page to win. There's no time for being babies or being scared. If you're scared, go to church."

The last time Jackson was at the Bradley Center, he didn't stay for long. When the Bobcats were in Milwaukee in November, Jackson was ejected four minutes into the game for arguing with officials.

"I bet you were happy about that, right?" Jackson leaned over and said to Skiles.

"Very happy," Skiles responded with a laugh. "I would've helped escort you out."

Jackson's fire and passion on the court can be both helpful and detrimental, as he tied for second in the NBA in technical fouls last season with 15.

"I know what I'm doing; I know how to get a tech," Jackson said. "Over the last four years, I've gotten better. Sometimes my emotions are to a fault, but at the same time I'd rather have them and play the game with that emotion and that pride than not play with it at all.

"Obviously I've got to be smarter about it, but I'm going to play with the same passion and desire every night. No one is going to change that – referees, nobody."

Skiles, for one, is glad about that.

"No coach would want Stephen Jackson ejected, of course," Skiles said. "But given the choice of somebody playing with passion and, on a rare occasion, losing it a little bit or guys that don't bring that kind of passion, you always take the former.

"If I'm going to sit here and compliment Stephen, which I am, on his competitiveness and then all of a sudden in the heat of the moment, in the heat of competition, something happens and I criticize him for it, I don't think that's fair."

Jackson later added that he is unfairly judged off the court because of his demeanor on the court, especially because of the 2004 incident in Detroit in which the then-Pacers player went into the stands when a fight broke out that involved teammate Ron Artest. He was suspended 30 games for his actions.

"I've never been in any trouble in my life until I got in the NBA," Jackson said. "I would die on the court to win a game."

Two years ago, the Bucks surprised many around the league when they won 46 games and nearly upset the Atlanta Hawks in the first round without Bogut. But last season was a different story as injuries dropped Milwaukee to a disappointing 35 wins.

Jackson believes that the Bucks will be back to their 2009-10 form now that he's on the team.

"They were one player away," Jackson said. "I know what I can bring to this team. I know what it takes to get to the playoffs. I think definitely we'll be in the playoffs this season."

Jackson said that he wants to play "at least four more years" in the NBA. His current contract has two years left on it.