After a turbulent year in Memphis, Jaren Jackson Jr. is ready to turn the page.
In case you’ve forgotten, the team fired head coach Taylor Jenkins with nine games left, lost Ja Morant to injury, got swept in the first round by the Thunder and traded away Desmond Bane.
The two-time All-Star signed a five-year, $240 million extension in July, locking him in as the Grizzlies’ cornerstone.
Now entering his eighth season after being drafted fourth overall in 2018, Jackson is the longest-tenured player on the roster, and he’s making a symbolic change to mark the moment.
He’ll be wearing No. 8 this season, a tribute to his father Jaren Jackson Sr., who spent 12 years in the NBA, and a nod to what he calls a “new beginnings” mindset.
“It’s super personal to me. It’s super personal to my family,” Jackson told NBC News. “I’m connected with 8 in a real way. It reaches into the territory of new beginnings. It’s infinite. It’s just a good place to draw energy from.”
Jackson says the decision came midseason, riding a stationary bike.
“I’ve worn eight before – in the McDonald’s game – and my dad has worn it. It gave a new beginnings kind of approach. My energy source of everything when I first got into the league was more [about] proving people wrong. Now it’s just about discipline. Now it’s about habits. I think that’s a much more sustainable energy source. I think discipline is really going to be the thing that takes you to that next level. I’m just really attracted to that, and that’s a new beginning in itself. It’s something me and my dad both share, and it all fits.”
His father’s advice still drives him.
“‘The journey is success.’ It’s a phrase that’s on his business card. As a kid, I always thought it was just so basic – I was too young to understand it. But now I get it. The journey is a success in itself. It’s about the process.”
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