This summer, Pistons swingman Josh Jackson received a gift from John Beilein — the former Michigan basketball and Cavaliers coach who is now an adviser to Detroit head coach Dwane Casey. It was a book titled “Chop Wood Carry Water: How to Fall in Love with the Process of Becoming Great.” The 2015-published work written by Joshua Medcalf is a tale about a boy on a journey to become a samurai warrior, and along the way, he learns that the biggest hurdle he’ll face on his quest stares back at him in the mirror.
It’s unclear if Beilein was sending an intentional message to the 24-year-old Detroit native with the summer reading assignment, but the theme the book carries is fitting.
Jackson is a talented player. There’s a reason he was selected No. 4 overall in 2017. He’s an athletic wing with natural defensive chops. He can get to the basket and score in more ways than one. However, throughout his four-year career, Jackson’s promise comes and goes like the night. There is a reason the Phoenix Suns, who drafted him, kept him around for only two seasons. There’s a reason the former top-5 pick had to swallow his pride and do a G League stint in Memphis before returning home to Detroit last season for a “last chance” opportunity.
The only thing that has slowed Josh Jackson, to this point, is Josh Jackson.
“Just how I tell Killian (Hayes) and Cade (Cunningham), it’s not a race,” Jackson said. “I’m still not a finished product yet. I’m still trying to become a better player. It never ends. You can’t quit.
