Only One Way Up

Josh Jackson got better and better as his rookie season wore on. Exactly where his career goes from here is still unknown, but the direction he’s heading is pretty damn obvious.

- Alex Wong

ON THE MORNING before the Suns would draft first overall for the first time in the franchise’s history, Josh Jackson finished a workout at the team’s practice facility. There was plenty to chat about after an eventful season, but the first thing I had to ask about was the lucky underwear Jackson wore to the draft lottery as the team’s representative.

“It’s a pair of underwear I wear whenever I feel like I need to have a good day,” Jackson explained. “They’re money print. There’s hundred dollar bills over them. I’ve had them since junior high. I feel like every time I’ve worn them, something good has happened. It’s gotten to the point where I’ve started to choose days when I would wear them. Because I honestly feel like they might be lucky.”

If making it to the NBA was as easy as finding a lucky pair of boxers, everyone would do it. Jackson’s path to the NBA hasn’t been a result of luck—it’s been the result of a lot of hard work.

Starting points might be hard to pinpoint for any basketball prospect. Sometimes it’s the first time they pick up a ball or their first game-winner. For Jackson, a high basketball IQ player with an appreciation for the mental aspect of the game, that starting point might have come in second grade, with a chess set. Jackson often played with his dad’s set by himself after school, moving pieces around and hoping his dad wouldn’t notice.