Bobby Jackson discusses leaving Sacramento and joining Nick Nurse’s staff in Philadelphia

News broke over the weekend that Bobby Jackson, formerly the head coach of Sacramento’s G League team, the Stockton Kings, would be joining Nick Nurse’s staff in Philadelphia. A couple days ago, Sean Cunningham of Fox40 caught up with Jackson at a celebrity golf tournament for a quick interview discussing his leaving the Sacramento organization and joining the Sixers. The full clip is below, followed by what I felt to be some pertinent points for Sixers fans to get to know their new assistant coach.

On the reaction to heading to Philadelphia:

“This is a great chapter for me in my next step in trying to become a head coach. I’m super excited to be going to Philadelphia, man.”

On how the job offer came to be:

“Just relationships that I’ve had with Nick [Nurse] that I’ve built with him for the last couple years. I was kinda intrigued how he came through the G League, became a head coach, Coach of the Year, won an NBA championship. So a couple years [ago], when I took the G League job, I reached out to him, and from there, our relationship just continued to grow.”

On how hard it will be to leave Sacramento, where he played six NBA seasons, coached for a handful of years, and has lived for over two decades:

“It’s difficult. I’ve been in Sacramento for 23 years. Sac is always gonna be home to me. I’m gonna keep my house here. I’m still a true Kings fan and I want to see them do well. But this next chapter in my life is all about me developing, trying to reach my goals to become a head coach, but also jumping to an organization that wants to win an NBA championship.”

On his approach to the new position:

“I think once you jump in this role, you should never say you’re old enough or you’re big enough to not learn anything. So my process is going in, work my butt off, adapt to the coaching style that Nick Nurse is going to bring to the table. But also add a little bit of experience on the playing side, but also add a lot of experience on the coaching side, what I’ve been doing for the last 14 years.”

On meshing with Nick Nurse:

“I’m learning from one of the best coaches to touch this surface, but also coach in the NBA. And I think that’s something you want to be a part of. He’s done a phenomenal job of picking his staff and I’m super excited that he gave me the opportunity to come to Philadelphia, and he sees something and I’m not gonna let him down.”

On working with Rico Hines again, who the Sixers also hired this week and had a previous stop with the Stockton Kings:

“It makes my job a little bit easier, but we still got a lot of work that we gotta do, and I think that’s the biggest thing. We go in with our open book, and we write stuff down, but we continue to learn and grow from each other. But the biggest thing is developing the players and helping them get to where they need to get to, and helping us reach that NBA championship that we definitely need.”

On what was attractive about the situation in Philadelphia:

“You got the MVP. You got James Harden. You got a team that was up 3-1 against Boston. [Editor’s note: The Sixers were up 3-2 against Boston.] Right, and you go in hoping that you can make things better. But again, you’re playing with perennial All-Stars, and Hall-of-Famers, and MVPs. We’re gonna be a really good team, and I’m psyched about that, to be back on the front of the bench, and bring my experience, my knowledge, but my love for the game.”

We in Philadelphia are excited to see what Jackson brings to the table as part of Nurse’s staff.