FanHouse StephenJackson

The Golden State Warriors no longer have a Stephen Jackson problem. He's Larry Brown's issue now.

The Warriors and Bobcats reached agreement Monday morning on a trade that will send Jackson and Acie Law to Charlotte for Raja Bell and Vladimir Radmanovic. Jackson had made it clear late in the summer that he "was looking to leave" the Warriors and hadn't relented on that theme through the early regular season.

The Bobcats weren't on Jackson's original "wish list" of teams, however, his agent, Mark Stevens had said about a week ago that his client would be willing to play for any team if it meant getting out of Golden State.

We all know Stephen Jackson is a short timer in Golden State. And now, with the Warriors off to a troubling 2-4 start, it looks as if Jackson will be gone sooner rather than later.

When Jackson first said he was "looking to leave" the Warriors, he listed Cleveland, New York or one of the Texas teams as desired destinations. Since then, a few other teams have supposedly expressed interest.

Charlotte, Miami and even Philadelphia are said to have emerged. However, there remains little doubt that the Cavaliers remain Jackson's most likely end-up spot. The reason: compatibility.

Angry agents ripping team execs and coaches isn't a new phenomenon, but Mark Stevens -- the rep for disgruntled Warrior Stephen Jackson -- might have painted a masterpiece in ripping Golden State coach Don Nelson in a discussion with ESPN.com's Chris Broussard. Stevens dredged up just about every demon in Nelson's basketball past, reaching back to Nellie's Bucks tenure in 1970s.

The whole tirade -- which is definitely worth a full read -- comes from what Stevens called "disgust with the quality" of Nelson's coaching. FanHouse's Matt Steinmetz watched the impetus for Stevens's tirade, a 120-107 blow-out loss at Sacramento. It was ugly, and Stevens is telling the truth: Nelson indeed looked like he didn't want to be there.

SACRAMENTO -- It's not so much the Warriors' 1-4 start that's the problem. It's the teams they've lost to and the manner in which they've been defeated.

Nobody expected the Warriors to be among the Western Conference elite. But they shouldn't be a team that can't compete with the L.A. Clippers and Sacramento Kings. But they can't. Not now.

What a miserable weekend it was for the Warriors. And you could tell by taking one stroll through the locker room after their 120-107 loss to the Kings on Sunday that there's more to this tough start than just a tough start.

PHOENIX -- The Warriors played basketball like five individuals wearing the same uniform on Friday, instead of like an NBA team that was anywhere near capable of playing as a cohesive unit. As a result, they were run off the floor by a Suns team that shared the ball to get easy baskets, led by a 20-assist performance from Steve Nash.

Besides the fact that Nash had more assists than the entire Warriors team did, there was something else that was interesting about this one, and that was the way that Don Nelson chose to use - or not use -- one of his most athletic players in Anthony Randolph.

Home sweet home. Well, for one night anyway. In front of a 42-inch big screen on opening night in the NBA. Let's go ahead and try to read too much into it ...

• You can't tell me the Cleveland Cavaliers aren't going to come knocking for Stephen Jackson at some point. Looks like LeBron James is going to need some more help.

Hard as this is to say, it doesn't seem like Shaquille O'Neal can even be your No. 2 option. Apparently, the Cavs are reluctant to give up Zydrunas Ilgauskas for Jackson because Cleveland doesn't want to get smaller.

Before he was named head coach of the Cavaliers in 2005, Mike Brown twice had the honor of coaching Stephen Jackson: once as an assistant with the Pacers, and before that, as an assistant with the Spurs.

Jackson's time in Indiana wasn't exactly that of a model citizen, but he was fine in San Antonio, and even got himself a ring as a contributor to the Spurs' championship in 2003.

Maybe Brown, based on this past experience, sees something in Jackson that at this point, most of the rest of us do not. That has to be the reason that Cleveland is interested in trading for Jackson, and freeing him from the unpleasant situation that he's created for himself in Golden State.

Warriors haymaker Stephen Jackson is again talking to Yahoo!'s Marc Spears about the injustice of it all, in which "it all" is a $30-million extension from a bad team who has apparently broke its promise to stop sucking. Clearly, in the grand scheme of the Golden State's familiar foray into bleakness, Stephen Jackson is the victim, according to Stephen Jackson.

But he's also a cause, and not because of this latest impetuousness. The very fact that Jackson is considered the Most Valuable Warrior -- or even a valuable Warrior -- helped get Golden State into this mess.

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- About an hour before the Warriors were scheduled to tip-off their nationally televised, outdoor contest against the Phoenix Suns, the team released a statement saying that they have suspended Stephen Jackson for "conduct detrimental to the team," for an incident which took place during Friday night's game against the Lakers.

The suspension is for the next two games, beginning with tonight's against Phoenix. Head coach Don Nelson isn't commenting on the particulars, but he did say that it's the first time in his career that he's ever suspended a player.

FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.

Point forward. The final frontier.

These are the voyages of the... okay, that joke ran out of gas before it even started (much like the Warriors' playoff hopes. Hey-O!). The point is, the point forward position, the true point forward position is essentially the Holy Grail. Long rumored, we have specific evidence to support its existence (Magic Johnson), and often imitated (LeBron James), but no one has seemed to find it in years.

Enter Anthony Randolph and the Temple of Nellie.