I'm not plugged into any real insider circles, but I've heard a couple of high-level guys say Casey Jacobsen was the best player they'd ever seen of any race. He could shoot from anywhere, dunk from the foul line, and simply had a relentless will to dominate a game. His profile was probably similar to Brent Barry (another underappreciated and ultimately underutilized star) but, at the risk of throwing around stupid adjectives, more dynamic.
Jacobsen was never going to get the chance to be a lead dog in the NBA, and after his rookie year racial apprenticeship, Jacobsen did not excel as a role player or 'specialist' (for white players, that's code for spot-up 3-point shooter) and was cast off the to fringes of various NBA rosters. He eventually landed in Germany and brought MVP performances and multiple championships to an otherwise average franchise. His number is retired there.
Here's part 2 of 3 of his career biopic - the whole thing is worth the watch.
I remember the first time I heard of Casey Jacobsen. I was in the LA airport and picked up a newspaper, and saw that the LA Times had selected him as Player of the Year for Southern California. A lot of big names had won that award before him - Baron Davis, Tayshaun Prince, Paul Pierce, etc. So I really took note of him!
He went to Stanford, and I was living in the area, so I got to see him a lot. He was fantastic!
Later, I couldn't understand why he hadn't made it in the NBA. I didn't follow the NBA closely at that time, but I knew Casey definitely had the talent to succeed.
What's also interesting is that the runner-up to Casey in the LA Times Player of the Year voting, was another white kid, Jason Kapono.
In college, he was very good, but Casey was better.
However, Kapono was able to have a fairly long and successful career in the NBA as a 3 point specialist, whereas Jacobsen didn't have much of a career.
Perhaps, as someone mentioned, he didn't want to be a one-dimensional player because he knew he was better than that.
What a shame!
