Microwave. Bucket-getter. Flamethrower. These are all words that have been used to describe Jordan Clarkson. Inconsistent. Ball-stopper. Erratic. Turnstile. These are also all words that have been used to describe the shooting guard. And there’s a lot of truth to all of them. Through Clarkson’s 12 seasons in the NBA, the former Missouri Tiger has earned the reputation of a talented scorer. He’s averaged more than 15PPG eight times in his career, won a Sixth Man of the Year award, which is often an award reserved for some of the best microwaves and flamethrowers in the game, and has played an important role on several playoff teams. All in all, Clarkson has had what many would call a long and relatively successful career.
But Clarkson follows a slowly dying, but proud lineage of explosive bench scorers that was once incredibly sought-after. Jamal Crawford, Lou Williams, and former Knick, J.R. Smith, all of whom have won the Sixth Man of the Year Award at least once, were hot commodities around the league because of their propensity to put the ball in the basket. Yet there’s a reason this breed of sixth men is a dying one.
While the best bench players in the league are still expected to score and do so often, they are now also expected to be more efficient than ever. Before 2020, when Montrezl Harrell won the award with an absurd 58% field goal percentage, the Sixth Man of the Year winner shot below 43.6% from the field in seven straight years. And during that period, fans, front offices, and players may have convinced themselves that inefficiency, bad shot selection, and a lack of playmaking were ok, shoot, even good, if they scored enough.
Clarkson, as we’ve now seen through 23 games, still seems to subscribe to that approach. We’ve seen Clarkson look good at times, scoring 24 crucial points in a much-needed win against Miami on November 14th, and scoring 15 or more points on four other occasions. But we’ve also seen him struggle mightily, shooting under 40% on nine separate occasions this year, including his last six straight games. And it’s made Knicks fans question if he, or any other player of his archetype, is truly necessary, or worth it.
The 33-year-old is just a couple of weeks removed from finishing up a 12-game stretch in which he averaged 12.3PPG, while shooting 54.4% from the field. And if the last couple of seasons have taught us anything, it’s that the Knicks need a ballhandler who can create for himself. But as is often the case with these all-or-nothing explosions waiting to happen, Clarkson is prone to cold spells. And when a player like Clarkson- one who doesn’t create for others, and isn’t a consistent enough defender- struggles to score, there’s just very little he can provide for his team.
It’s unreasonable to think that a veteran like Clarkson, who knows the ups and downs of a long season, can’t find his way back into rhythm. There will very likely be more games, and hopefully even stretches, where Clarkson reminds the Knicks and their fans why he was brought in. But the last six games have shown us why he was waived, and why New York didn’t have much competition for him and his services. Clarkson, now no longer young and spry, is an inconsistent, if not bad, defender, and his consistency with his shooting isn’t much better. He can explode for 20+ points on any given night, but he isn’t a great player off the ball, and he doesn’t create for others. And a lot of that were things we already knew.
Fans were well aware that Clarkson wasn’t going to shoot efficiently every night. They understood that they were getting a subpar defender. And they knew that the playmaking was going to be iffy at best. But even with that knowledge, the bad has looked really bad. It’s not just that the results are bad, but during Sunday’s win against the Magic, Clarkson, maybe for the first time this season, looked dejected, lost, and hesitant.
The Knicks are currently winning, so the Clarkson talks have stayed somewhat quiet. But even then, fans have already started to become fed up with his ways. Now, imagine if New York finds itself in the midst of a tough stretch, or a losing streak, and Clarkson can’t turn it around. Those criticisms will only continue to get louder and louder.
So, for Clarkson, the Knicks, and the fans’ sake, let’s all hope that he turns it around. He will never turn into a consistently efficient scorer who gets others involved and plays good defense. But if he can get back to what he was doing for much of November, and the Knicks continue to win, fans will get out of his way and let him do what he does best.
