This game brought me vivid flashbacks to the few months immediately following Reggie Jackson’s trade to the Pistons from the Thunder. In those glorious months, Reggie Jackson’s chemistry with Andre Drummond was off the charts, and he averaged, like, almost ten APG per game. When I think about those fun times on a sad-sack directionless Pistons team, I can sorta understand why some Pistons fans would be pining for “vintage” Reggie Jackson. Because the vintagest Reggie Jackson in a Pistons uniform was looking like a match made in heaven with Drummond.
Flashbacks for me are kind of a scary experience. Normal people just sort of see pictures in their mind’s eye. They’re not afflicted with all kinds of scary symptoms. Meanwhile, when I have flashbacks, my body starts spazzing out and if I feel one coming on I know to get far away from my computer equipment or anything else that’s breakable. Also, these visions are interspersed with scenes of pure terror. Usually it’s other-dimensional abominations with a million tentacles and ten million eyes, devouring planets and ripping holes in space-time. When I wake up, I’m often covered in blood even though I don’t have any visible wounds.
So it’s cool to remember how Jackson was going to be the point guard of the future while reliving the end of the 2014-15 season, but it’s also not cool. Not cool at all.