Reggie Jackson had a costly technical foul during the final minutes of his Detroit Pistons’ Game 1 playoff loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday, and he does not regret the move.
Jackson was asked after the game whether he had any regrets.
“Nah. I wish I get the call. I wish they would see me get slapped on the arm. It felt to me blatantly obvious. Got to let them know,” Jackson said of the referees.
Contrast that with what head coach Stan Van Gundy said.
“I think he knows the message. You cannot — you cannot — get a technical foul,” Van Gundy said. “I understand you’re frustrated, you think you got fouled … whatever, it doesn’t matter. Certainly not at that point in the game. One point is huge. It can’t be done. I’m sure if you ask him, he’d tell you the same thing.”
The Pistons were only down 96-92 with 3:24 left when Jackson sprinted to confront an official over a lack of a foul call.
Pistons' Reggie Jackson gets technical foul after losing composure over no-call pic.twitter.com/uZEytEb89j
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) April 17, 2016
Kyrie Irving made the free throw from the technical to make it a five-point game, and the Cavs got the ball after that. Though the Pistons later closed the gap they ended up losing big. The point remains that Jackson cost his team a point with his outburst. Will it help the Pistons get more calls later in the series and therefore pay off? Possibly, but for Game 1, it did not help them.
You also get the feeling that the utter lack of remorse from Jackson might be what makes him so disliked.
