The NBA fined Stephen Jackson of the San Antonio Spurs $25,000 on Sunday for a threatening tweet that he sent to Serge Ibaka of the Oklahoma City Thunder over Twitter on Friday.
Jackson posted the message on Friday night after Ibaka and Metta World Peace of the Los Angeles Lakers got tangled up during the fourth quarter of Friday’s game. Both players earned technical fouls, but Jackson was enraged and took to Twitter to defend World Peace, his friend and former teammate in Indiana.
“Somebody tel serg Abaka. He aint bout dis life. Next time he run up on me im goin in his mouth. That’s a promise. He doin 2 much,” he tweeted.
Jackson has since deleted the message and took to Twitter to issue an apology to Ibaka and the NBA.
“I apologize to Serge Ibaka, the NBA, and to all my fans for the comments I made,” Jackson tweeted. “It was unprofessional and childish. I’m not a thug just a man who speaks his mind. It was not appropriate. I do apologize. Only a man can admit when he’s wrong.”
Jackson’s comments did not sit well with the Spurs organization either.
“The recent public comments made by Stephen Jackson are absolutely unacceptable, cannot be tolerated and do not reflect the standards held by the San Antonio Spurs,” Spurs general manager RC Buford said in an emailed statement Sunday night, The Associated Press reported.
The Spurs may also decide to hand down an additional punishment besides the fine placed by NBA, but that still remains to be unseen.
In Jackson’s 13-year career he has played for seven different teams in the NBA. Jackson is best known for his involvement in the brawl at The Palace in Detroit in 2004, when he played for the Indiana Pacers. Jackson and World Peace played a heavy part in the brawl, which resulted in significant suspensions for both. World Peace was suspended for the entire 2004-05 season while Jackson was suspended for 30 games.
