"He made it acceptable"- Isiah Thomas says former Warriors coach was the key to unlocking Steph Curry and Klay Thompson 

The Golden State Warriors have easily been the NBA’s most successful franchise over the last decade. The Warriors have won four titles since 2015 behind superstar point guard Steph Curry, who has revolutionized the game with his elite shooting.

Curry is now almost unanimously considered to be the best shooter in NBA history. Most would agree that Warriors coach Steve Kerr also changed the game through his innovative small-ball lineup that helped the team unlock its full potential. However, according to Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas, former Warriors coach Mark Jackson deserves a lot of the credit for Golden State’s success.

During a recent appearance on the “All The Smoke” podcast, Thomas spoke about how Jackson changed the game of basketball. Thomas explained that Jackson did so by allowing his star players, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, to regularly shoot from long range:

“The guy who doesn’t get credit for changing the game in this so-called evolution of the game, his name would be coach Mark Jackson,” Thomas said.

“Now let me tell you why Mark Jackson changed the game. Because Mark Jackson saw a guy by the name of Steph Curry and a guy by the name of Klay Thompson, and Mark Jackson as a coach, he made it acceptable for Steph Curry and Klay to shoot from that range."

“Mark Jackson alone accepted it, and when he accepted, that changed the game. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson would not be Steph Curry and Klay Thompson getting credit for the evolution if there wasn’t a teacher and a master saying you can do that.”

Mark Jackson coached the Warriors from 2011 to 2014. The Warriors went 121-109 over 230 regular-season games under Jackson. They also went 9-10 over 19 playoff games under Jackson, winning just one playoff series in three years. However, most would agree that Jackson laid the foundation for the Warriors’ future success. Likewise, most agree that Jackson played a big role in Steve Kerr’s success after taking over as coach in 2014.

Isiah Thomas' discussion about Mark Jackson starts at the 28:20 mark below:

Isiah Thomas on specific examples of how the modern-day NBA has been influenced by Mark Jackson

Former Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson

Later on in his interview, Isiah Thomas recounted some specific examples of how the modern-day NBA has been influenced by Mark Jackson. Thomas recalled some big moments where star players took shots that would have been deemed unacceptable in his era:

“I’ll never forget watching Golden State play OKC, and Klay Thompson pulled up in a pressure situation, the pressure situation, from the hash mark. Bam!,” Thomas said.

“Now Mark Jackson wasn’t coaching then, but the thought, the acceptability. We was watching Kevin Durant in Cleveland come down and LeBron James was waiting for him. And Kevin Durant stopped three feet from behind (the 3-point line). Boom! And they asked LeBron James what was the difference between last year and this year, and he said ‘KD.’”

Thomas then reiterated that this change in how the game is played should be attributed to Jackson letting players feel free to keep shooting:

“In my opinion, when you say the evolution of the game and the 3-point shot, he’s the one who changed the game,” Thomas said.

“He’s the one who made it acceptable from a coaching standpoint to not allow you to shoot from there, but allow you to miss from there.”

“I saw Steph come back his first game after being injured one time and he went 3-for-16 in Portland from the 3-point line. It’s acceptable now. It’s acceptable now. You can go 1-for-10 and say ‘I’m gonna get hot.’ Mark Jackson changed the game.”

Despite his influence on the game of basketball, Mark Jackson has not received another coaching opportunity since being fired by Golden State in 2014. It remains to be seen if Jackson will receive another job offer in the future.