Bucks' Jackson says no bad blood

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Bucks guard Stephen Jackson isn't all that upset the Bobcats traded him away.
      
Jackson said during Monday's shootaround he's in "better situation" now with the Bucks when it comes to making the playoffs than he was with the young, rebuilding Bobcats.
      
"I hate to lose," Jackson said prior to Monday night's game against the Bobcats. "If they were going young and feel like they're going to lose than it's the best situation to move me because I wasn't going to be happy losing. So I agree with them on that."
      
Jackson said when the Bobcats traded away their other star player in All-Star Gerald Wallace in February it was hard to take.
      
The Bobcats finished last season 34-48.
      
"When Gerald left, I really left with him," Jackson said. "Considering what we did in the playoffs with the team we had and then to go and make all of those changes and take Gerald away it took a lot out of me. I was still trying to do the best job I could. It was just harder not having an All-Star there. When they got rid of Gerald that let me know they don't want to win.
      
"So I didn't want to be a part of something like that."
      
Still, Jackson said the trade was a surprise to him.
      
Jackson, now in his 11th NBA season, thought at one point he'd retire a Bobcat.
      
"It was (surprising) considering I brought this team to the playoffs and that hasn't been done since the organization (came into the league)," Jackson said. "But at the same it's a business and it's not the first time I've been traded. The first day is always a shocker, but the next day you wake up and understand you still have a great job and a great gift to play basketball."
      
He added, "there isn't any bad blood."
      
In the past Jackson said he'd be fired up about playing his former team following a trade.
      
But that isn't the case, he said, with the Bobcats.
      
"I know a lot of people think, `Oh, he's going to come in and try to get 50,' but that ain't even my attitude," Jackson said. "I'm not even that up for this game. I'm really trying to get my team focused for the season."
      
Notes: The Bobcats claimed guard Cory Higgins, son of Bobcats director of player operations Bob Higgins, off waivers from the Nuggets. He played at Colorado and finished tied for first on school's all-time scoring list. He was the seventh overall pick in the 2011 D-League draft by the Erie Bayhawks and averaged 12.6 points and 4.2 rebounds in five games prior to joining the Nuggets in training camp.