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Andrew Luck's retirement from the NFL due to injury sparked talks about player health anew. This time, Reggie Jackson shared how he almost made the same decision like the Indianapolis Colts QB.
Michael Kaskey-Blomain reported how the Detroit Pistons guard shared with the Detroit News his health over the past few years. He detailed how it almost stopped him from enjoying the game he loves the most:
“A few years back, I thought (my future) was retirement after this season,” Jackson said. “I'm just happy to be in a good state of mind and playing ball this year. We'll figure (the future) out from there. I'm excited about what we can possibly do this year. … I was just getting injured too much and I had hit basketball depression and it was a point in time that I really didn't want to deal with the game anymore. It was more the injuries that started to have that (retirement) thought creep in my head.”
Jackson only played 52 games in 2016-17 and made fewer appearances the season after that. In that context, it would have been understandable to see him call it quits. However, he kept his head down and was subsequently blessed to be able to play all of his team's regular-season games.
Jackson is a respectable point guard in the league with career averages of 12.9ppg, 4.4apg, and a 43% shooting clip. Given that he's entering his contract year, we can expect to see numbers similar to his 2015-16 campaign.
Luck's decision to walk away is a good decision. Jackson's choice to stick it out is also a great move. Players will act according to what they feel best, and fans will have to live with their athlete's decisions.
