Former Michigan State Star Posting Mind-Boggling Stat
When Michigan State Spartans star Jaren Jackson Jr. entered the NBA Draft in 2018, there were incredibly high expectations for the forward.
Some even labeled him the next Kevin Garnett.
While he hasn't exactly reached KG heights during his NBA career, the Memphis Grizzlies forward has established himself as a terrific player, and this 2024-25 campaign may be his most impressive effort to date.
Heading into Wednesday night's action, Jackson was averaging 22.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.4 steals over 28.8 minutes per game on 52.7/35.3/78.4 shooting splits.
Those are terrific numbers and would be good enough on their own, but a deeper look into Jackson's stats has revealed some mind-boggling stuff.
Jackson's on/off splits are absolutely insane, particularly on the defensive end.
When Jackson is on the floor, the Grizzlies are allowing 102.4 points per 100 possessions. When he is on the bench, that number balloons to 117.2.
That means Memphis is 14.8 points per 100 possessions better defensively when Jackson is on the court.
Just take a second to fathom how crazy that is.
Jackson's impact on the defensive end is so great that the Grizzlies go from an elite defensive ball club when he is on the floor to a bottom feeder when he is sitting.
The 25-year-old already has a Defensive Player of the Year award under his belt, which came during the 2022-23 campaign when he logged a league-leading three blocks per game. But even that season, there was only a 4.9-point difference when he was on the court.
Granted, this is a relatively small sample size this season. Those numbers only reflect the 13 games in which Jackson had played going into Wednesday. So, chances are, things will level out a bit as the season progresses.
Still, there is no question that this may very well end up being the most productive year that the Michigan State product has ever had.
Jackson spent one year in East Lansing during the 2017-18 campaign, registering 10.9 points, 5.8 boards and three blocks a night.
His potential was clearly tantalizing, and while Jackson has been slightly inconsistent throughout his NBA career, it appears that he is figuring it out.
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