Kansas basketball: 99 more reasons to smile

Kansas basketball fans know Josh Jackson was the best talent going into the NBA draft. As expected, Jackson is off to an exciting start in the NBA summer league.

It’s old news now, Josh Jackson was better than the number 4 pick in last month’s NBA draft. As a matter of fact, we’ve said it over and over. The Phoenix Suns got a steal when they drafted and signed the former Kansas basketball star.

I don’t watch much NBA and even less in the summer. On the other hand, I don’t have to pay much attention. I see a lot of Josh Jackson everywhere because he is doing some amazing things on the court. Kansas basketball fans enjoy it when their former Jayhawks do special things. He, wearing his new number, is giving Jayhawk fans 99 reasons and more to smile this summer. Jackson is from Michigan where writer Vince Ellis in the Detroit Free Press wrote a fascinating piece on the former Jayhawk.

I know this is only the summer league and it’s a relatively quiet time in the world of sports. Good for the NBA summer league and Jackson. I expect this talented athlete to do big things in July and down the road for Phoenix.

We know Jackson can score. He did average 16 points in the 30 games of his one and done Kansas basketball season. He also learned to hustle back and play defense for Bill Self and  is doing that for the Suns. The social media world made sure to show off his effort from Wednesday night’s game.

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In addition to scoring the ball averaging 17 points a game, Jackson is doing some additional dirty work. He is among the leaders hustling for rebounds in the latest Las Vegas round of games. If he continues to do this in the fall, I expect Jackson to make the NBA All Star team and possibly receive a post season reward or two.