Stephen Jesse Jackson knew he wanted to play basketball since he was four years old. From a large family in Port Arthur, Texas, Jackson grew up surrounded by something of a basketball legacy with two uncles and three older cousins having played on Lincoln High School State Championship teams. By the time he entered high school, Jackson was a varsity starter. During his junior year in high school, Jackson led Port Arthur's Lincoln High School to the State Championships. He was high scorer and made All-American. That summer at the Nike All-American basketball camp, Jackson met Coach Steve Smith of Oak Hill Academy in Virginia who offered him a scholarship to play for Oak Hill his senior year and Jackson accepted.

After graduation, Jackson went to Phoenix, Arizona where he played pickup basketball at the Phoenix Suns summer camp. Suns coach Danny Ainge saw Jackson's potential and in 1997, only one year after graduating from high school, Jackson was drafted but later waived by the Suns. Even so, Coach Ainge pushed Jackson to keep playing, encouraging him to play overseas for more experience. Jackson played for the Sydney Kings in Australia. While with the Kings, Jackson broke his left foot and returned to the U.S. to heal. The following summer, while trying out for the Chicago Bulls, Jackson broke his right foot. Along the way, Jackson also played two seasons in Venezuela and one season in the Dominican Republic.

After a couple of years playing overseas and re-habilitating his injuries, the 200-pound, 6-foot-8 guard/forward was finally ready to try for the NBA again. He signed as a free agent with the New Jersey Nets in October of 2000 and joined the San Antonio Spurs as a free agent in 2001. In 2003 Jackson scored 17 points for the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA championship game against the New Jersey Nets. In 2003, Jackson was a free agent with the Atlanta Hawks. Following the 2003-04 NBA season, the Hawks traded Jackson to the Indiana Pacers. On January 17, 2007, the Indiana Pacers traded Jackson to the Golden State Warriors, where he currently plays.

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