BIO: Charles Jackson was born in Sacramento, California (USA).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Charles Jackson made his NBL debut with the New Zealand Breakers on 30/12/1899. He scored 12 points in his first game.

After winning the 2015 NBL Championship and claiming their fourth title in five years, New Zealand retained almost all of its championship roster under coach Dean Vickerman, with Rhys Carter (to Sydney) and Ekene Ibekwe (to Melbourne) departing. Vickerman added Shane McDonald (via Nunawading – SEABL) and rookie American big man Charles Jackson (via Tennessee Tech), while Shea Ili and Tai Wynyard were elevated as development players and Finn Delany joined the development roster. New Zealand’s preseason was disrupted by Alex Pledger recovering from off-season foot surgery, Thomas Abercrombie dealing with a hamstring injury and Corey Webster temporarily leaving the team to trial with the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans, leading to Everard Bartlett (via Hawke’s Bay) joining as Webster’s replacement.

Jackson had gone undrafted in the 2015 NBA Draft before playing with Philadelphia during NBA Summer League and signed with New Zealand on August 10 to replace Ibekwe as one of the Breakers’ two imports. He arrived expecting to provide rebounding, physical defence and energy around the basket and said, “I’m just going to play my role, whatever they tell me to do, so I can fit in.”

New Zealand opened the season in Adelaide on October 7 without Webster, Abercrombie and Pledger, where Jackson (12 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block) came from the bench in his NBL debut. Cedric Jackson (14 points and 6 assists) and Bartlett (13 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals) led the Breakers, while Matthew Hodgson (18 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks) was Adelaide’s best as the 36ers won 90-71. New Zealand trailed 51-26 at halftime, with its 26 points representing the second-lowest first-half score and the 25-point margin the second-largest halftime deficit in club history at the time.

Jackson (10.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks across 33 games) appeared in every game and led New Zealand in rebounding during his first professional season. He moved into the starting lineup in the Breakers’ second game and started 21 consecutive games before Pledger (6.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks across 31 games), who had entered the season recovering from foot surgery, replaced him in the starting five midway through the campaign. Jackson remained an important part of the frontcourt from the bench and played all five playoff games, with no injury keeping him out at any stage of the season.

With New Zealand sitting 1-3, Webster (19.8 points across 28 games) returned after failing to secure a roster position with New Orleans. Duane Bailey (0.7 points across 3 games) was removed from the full-time roster to create room for Webster and was offered the opportunity to remain as a training player and provide injury cover before departing (to Plymouth) in November. Bartlett (4.7 points across 32 games), who had originally joined only as Webster’s temporary replacement, was retained for the remainder of the season after playing an important role during New Zealand’s opening four games. The Breakers responded to Webster’s return by winning nine of their next eleven games and improved to 10-5.

Jackson’s best game came against Perth at the North Shore Events Centre on December 2, where Jackson (19 points, 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, and 2 blocks) made 7-of-10 shots as New Zealand defeated the Wildcats 99-78. Abercrombie (23 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists) and Webster (21 points) led the scoring around him, while Jermaine Beal (23 points, 6 assists, and 4 steals) was Perth’s best. The victory secured the season series against the Wildcats and gave New Zealand the tie-breaker should the teams finish with identical records, with Vickerman saying of Jackson, “He’s really starting to find it.”

Three days later, Jackson’s highest-scoring game of the season came against Townsville, where Jackson (22 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 blocks) made 10-of-15 shots as New Zealand defeated the Crocodiles 86-75. Abercrombie (19 points, 7 rebounds, and 1 block) and Webster (17 points) provided support, while Jordair Jett (15 points and 4 steals) was Townsville’s leading scorer.

One of Jackson’s strongest performances came during New Zealand’s midseason slide against Illawarra on January 17, where Jackson (11 points, 18 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 steals) collected 10 offensive rebounds before fouling out during the second overtime. Webster (22 points, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks) and Cedric Jackson (18 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals) led the Breakers, while Kevin Lisch (40 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals) carried Illawarra to a 103-96 victory. Jackson became the first Breakers player to collect 10 offensive rebounds in a game and the first NBL player to reach double figures in offensive rebounds since Rosell Ellis in January 2007, but the loss was New Zealand’s fourth in a row and pushed the defending champions outside the top four.

The losing streak eventually reached six games when New Zealand surrendered a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and lost 90-87 in Cairns on January 23. Pledger had replaced Jackson in the starting lineup by that stage, but the change allowed Jackson to provide energy and rebounding from the bench. The Breakers entered their January 29 meeting with Townsville needing to win each of their remaining five games to keep their title defence alive, then defeated the Crocodiles 77-74 to end the six-game slide and began a five-game winning streak.

Webster remained New Zealand’s leading scorer and earned All-NBL Second Team honours, with Abercrombie (14 points and 6.3 rebounds across 31 games), Cedric Jackson (12.8 points, 6 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 1.3 steals across 33 games), Tai Wesley (11.7 points and 4.9 rebounds across 26 games) and Mika Vukona (6.2 points and 7.4 rebounds across 29 games) forming the other major contributors alongside Jackson and Pledger.

New Zealand completed the regular season against minor premiers Melbourne at Hisense Arena on February 14, where Jackson (6 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 4 blocks) produced his highest blocked-shot total of the season from the bench. Wesley (23 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks) and Vukona (10 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists) led the Breakers, while Chris Goulding (22 points and 3 assists) was Melbourne’s best. Wesley scored the go-ahead basket in the final seconds as New Zealand won 70-68, completed its fifth consecutive victory and finished fourth at 16-12 to edge Adelaide for the final playoff position.

New Zealand opened its semifinal series against first-placed Melbourne at Hisense Arena, where Jackson (8 points and 2 rebounds) scored efficiently in only 6:17 but fouled out as the Breakers recovered from a seven-point second-half deficit to win 91-82. Cedric Jackson (20 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals), Abercrombie (16 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 block) and Vukona (11 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals) led New Zealand, while Hakim Warrick (24 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 blocks) and Goulding (23 points and 5 rebounds) were Melbourne’s best.

Game two moved to Vector Arena, where Jackson (2 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 2 blocks) played almost 20 minutes from the bench as Abercrombie (23 points and 4 rebounds), Cedric Jackson (19 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals) and Wesley (16 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks) led New Zealand. Goulding (23 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists) and Warrick (17 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks) led Melbourne, but the Breakers pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 91-78 victory, completing the 2-0 sweep and reaching their fifth Grand Final in six seasons.

Perth hosted game one of the Grand Final at Perth Arena, where Jackson (11 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks) made four of five field goals and recorded a double-double from the bench. Webster (19 points and 2 steals) and Cedric Jackson (14 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals) led New Zealand, while Nathan Jawai (15 points) and Matthew Knight (14 points and 5 rebounds) led Perth. The Breakers recovered from a 13-point deficit and briefly moved ahead late in the third quarter before Damian Martin helped Perth regain control as the Wildcats won 82-76 and moved one victory from the championship.

Game two returned to Auckland, where Jackson (7 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, and 2 blocks) provided another productive performance from the bench as Cedric Jackson (13 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals) came within two assists of a triple-double and Abercrombie (12 points and 5 rebounds) provided support. Jermaine Beal (20 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists) and Jesse Wagstaff (13 points) led Perth, but Webster (10 points) made a three-pointer with 18 seconds remaining to put New Zealand four points ahead before the Breakers held on for a 72-68 victory and tied the series 1-1.

The deciding game returned to Perth Arena in front of 13,090 fans, where Jackson (7 points, 12 rebounds, and 1 block) made all three of his field-goal attempts as Abercrombie (21 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals) was New Zealand’s only player to reach double figures. Casey Prather (19 points and 5 rebounds), Beal (14 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists) and Martin (10 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 steals) led Perth, with Martin’s defence holding Cedric Jackson (0 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists) scoreless on five field-goal attempts before he fouled out early in the fourth quarter. Martin was named Grand Final MVP as Perth defeated New Zealand 75-52 to claim its seventh NBL championship, handing the Breakers their first playoff series loss to the Wildcats and their first Grand Final series defeat.

Charles Jackson played one season in the NBL. He averaged 10.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 0.5 assists in 33 NBL games.