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Quenton Jackson’s Pacers Teammates React To 3-Year Contract

Originally posted on Last Word On Sports
By Quenton S Albertie | Last updated Feb 28, 2026 8:12 PM ET

This weekend, the Indiana Pacers will face just one team, traveling to Tennessee to take on the Memphis Grizzlies. After losing five straight games, the last two by a combined 45 points, it’ll be an opportunity for them to re-calibrate. Even teams that aren’t concerned about their win-loss record need to feel the triumph of victory every now and then. It boosts the morale in the locker room and, frankly, keeps players from pulling their hair out. With that in mind, the Grizzlies are one of the few franchises with a starting point guard (Ja Morant) who has played 20 or fewer games, the Pacers (Tyrese Haliburton) being another.

Quenton Jackson’s Pacers Teammates React To 3-Year Contract

Losing a key starter, let alone an All-Star-caliber player, is typically going to have a negative impact. As a result, Memphis and Indiana have 37 wins to 81 losses, combined. But often lost amidst the tumult of teams like the Grizzlies and Pacers is opportunity. Adversity is always a chance to prove for one to prove themselves in a general sense. And the sports world, just like any other job in the private sector, is all about ‘the next man up.’ In Memphis, that’s led to Cam Spencer (and Ty Jerome) putting up career numbers.

In Indiana, it’s led to 27-year-old Quenton Jackson earning his first standard contract, putting him on the 15-man roster. Having signed three two-way contracts with the Pacers up to that point, his story of perseverance. The confidence that he had to have in himself to make it this far is on full display when he’s on the court, attacking the rim fearlessly.

This video of Quenton Jackson’s teammates congratulating him on earning a standard contract with the Pacers is incredible https://t.co/eOFAdqd4c3 pic.twitter.com/Jm8vKrgYsx

— Luke Evangelist (@lukeevangelist_) February 28, 2026

“I mean, y’all know me. Y’all know my situation, my kind of struggle to get where I’m at. Where I been,” Jackson tells his teammates as they congratulated him on his new deal at Pascal Siakam‘s Trivia for Change Fundraiser (h/t TexAgs analyst Luke Evangelist). “I just want to thank all of y’all for having a part in helping me get here. I try to do my best to keep everybody engaged. But, you know, it’s been a long journey. Man, this **** just a blessing, so I appreciate that.”

“We’re all excited for you,” Siakam tells Jackson.

“Whether six guys are hurt or everybody’s playing, he’s always ready to go and give it his all,” Houston one-and-done Jarace Walker says, per Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. “His effort and his energy overtakes everything. So I’m just definitely proud of him for always staying ready.”

“He’s really earned it. It’s been a long road to this point,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle would add after Saturday’s practice. Echoing Carlisle’s statement, Jackson would say “it’s a long journey. I’m just glad I never gave up.”

The Last Word on Quenton Jackson’s New Deal

It isn’t often that a player makes it from a middling high school team (Mira Costa) to a junior college (College of Central Florida) to a Power Conference college program (Texas A&M). It’s even rarer for them to go undrafted after a graduate year, sign everything from an Exhibit 10 to a two-way contract, and actually earn steady playing time because they’re too important to keep off the court.

Jackson’s basketball journey doesn’t have to be a relatively unique destiny, and maybe it shouldn’t. All the same, it’s a feel good story that won’t soon be forgotten by Pacers fans or personnel.

This article first appeared on Last Word On Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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