Stephen Jackson says contract issues sabotaged the Warriors last season

September 26, 1:52 PMGolden State Warriors ExaminerMatt Steinmetz

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Stephen Jackson: Warriors better than last year 

As you would figure, Stephen Jackson, one of the most open and honest NBA interviews, stole the show at Warriors' media day.

Matter of fact, he dropped a couple of nuggets.

And we're not even talking about Jackson saying he wants to retire a Warrior.

Jackson used the word "cancer" regarding last year's team, and suggested that the abundance of players who were coming up for contract extensions proved to be a distraction that was too great to overcome

The Warriors won 48 games last season but failed to make the playoffs. They were 40-23 in mid-March but went 8-11 on the  way home.

Monta Ellis, Andris Biedrins, Kelenna Azubuike and Matt Barnes were all either on one-year deals or the last year of their contract.

In addition, Baron Davis had an opt-out clause, and he used it to become a free agent.

"It was a toll last year," Jackson said. "You had Matt, you had B.D., you had Monta and Andris. All the contract stuff was in the locker room. This year it's not like that. Ninety percent of the guys are taken care of.

"I'm going to be real. It was talked about a little too much considering the year we had before, all the success we had (in playoffs vs. Dallas). I think that took away from our focus.

"Matt was worried about his contract, B.D. Everyone was talking about it too much instead of talking about what we need to do to win games. It was a cancer last year.

" And that's the good thing about this year. We're better on paper and we don't have to worry about nobody talking about that in the locker room. Because that can become a cancer, guys start worrying about more their own issues than the team issues. That's why you can't win."

Interestingly, Jackson, who has two more years remaining on his deal, said he wants a contract extension. But he vowed he won't bring that into the locker room.

But let's get back to Jackson saying the Warriors were going to be better than the 48-win team of a year ago even though they won't have Davis for the entire season and Ellis for the first few months?

"As far as our roster. I know we are (better)," Jackson said. " You know I'm not going to shoot you no (expletive). I think we're definitely better. We're bigger, we're younger. Last year we played with six guys. At the end of the season me and B.D. didn't have no gas. We were tired. If the young guys catch on quicker, we can go deeper into the bench and play less minutes."