The Charlotte Bobcats Have Their Eyes Set on the First Ever Playoff Spot in Franchise History

The Charlotte Bobcats Have Their Eyes Set on the First Ever Playoff Spot in Franchise History

The race for the top spot in the Eastern Conference is all but over with the Cavs and the Magic.  Right now Cleveland has a five-game lead and unless LeBron James sits out every single game for the rest of the season, the regular season crown will once again belong to Cleveland.  However, the race at the back-end of the Eastern Conference between four teams is the one to watch.  Miami, Toronto, Chicago, and Charlotte are all fighting to avoid being the last team out of the playoffs.  While Chicago has lost nine in a row and Toronto is just in their last ten games, the Bobcats look to be peaking at the right time.

Charlotte has won seven of their last eight games, including wins against the Lakers, the Magic, the Heat, and the Thunder, to elevate themselves to the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference.Charlotte is a team that is much better at home than on the road, but the Bobcats are hungry, they’re talented, they have a lethal one-two punch with Gerald Wallace and Captain Jack, and they have played their best ball against the elite teams in the league.  When it comes to a seven game series in the playoffs, the Bobcats could be very dangerous.Stephen Jackson joined WFNZ in Charlotte with the Mac Attack to talk about the growth of the team, what it means to have Michael Jordan as a majority owner, and whether or not he is paying attention to what the other teams in the Eastern Conference are doing.

On how the team is coming together right now:

“I think the proper word to use is growth.  We’re learning how to win games that we should win and we’re finding ways to win through adversity without Gerald when we get down 19 points.  That shows that this team wants to be a good team, wants get to the playoffs, and we’re gonna keep our composure to get wins.”

On what it means to have Michael Jordan as the majority owner of the team:

“Me personally, me being a player in the NBA and to see the first actually NBA player to be the majority owner of a team, that’s something special.  We all wanna put ourselves in the best position when we retire and he’s someone we can look up to.  Also, he’s the best to ever play the game in my opinion and a lot of people’s opinion.  To be able to play for him, know what a competitor he was, and know how much he’s gonna dedicate his time and his self to making this organization be one of the best, it’s just a privilege to be a part of and I think it’s a win-win situation.”

On what Michael Jordan actually does to help his game:

“He sees things just like Coach Brown sees things and just to get his advice on certain situations in games, like he helps me out with double teams, he helps my patience on the block and there are a lot of things that he sees that it’s hard to see when you’re out there in a battle.  It’s hard not to take advice from Michael Jordan.  It’s just a blessing to have an owner that’s dedicated, that’s played the game, and knows what it takes.”

On whether or not he watches the scoreboard to see what other teams are doing:

“If anybody’s not paying attention they really don’t care about making the playoffs.  I know I ask.  As soon as we take care of business, I try to find out from somebody around the organization to see if they have any scores.”