Wallace, Jackson and the alpha male syndrome

I wrote my column today on Gerald Wallace, Stephen Jackson and the peaceful way they have managed to co-exist on the Charlotte Bobcats team, despite the fact they both have an alpha-male sort of personality.

I do wish you could see these two interact in the locker room. I tried to describe that some in the story. They show their affection by teasing each other unmercifully.

I am in Orlando today along with Observer colleague Rick Bonnell -- we will be covering the first two games of the Charlotte-Orlando playoff series here before heading back home. I'll be posting to this blog all week about the series, in which No.2 seed Orlando is a heavy favorite over No.7 seed Charlotte.

Wallace said a couple of days ago he was already getting "nervous" about the opener -- this is the first time he's ever been an integral part of a playoff team (in Sacramento, during his first couple of years, the Kings made the playoffs but Wallace just sat on the bench). Jackson has a championship ring from his time in San Antonio, and he will need to stay cool-headed throughout this series no matter what sort of calls the officials make (as my story goes into, Jackson is fairly notorious for thinking he gets fouled on every shot he misses, but Wallace is good at talking him down off the ledge).