ATLANTA (AP) The premise seems preposterous: A player is rewarded with a $9 million contract offer by the team he just helped win an NBA title, yet he turns it down to sign for less money with one of the league's worst teams.

Amazingly, that is exactly what happened to Stephen Jackson.

He started 58 games last season and averaged 11.8 points as the San Antonio Spurs tied for the best record in the Western Conference and won their second championship in five years.

The team hoped to re-sign him with a new three-year deal.

For some reason _ and his explanation is somewhat vague _ Jackson turned down the offer.

``As soon as the season was over, I wanted to make another move,'' he said. ``I didn't want to be with San Antonio because I wanted to be somewhere where I could actually continue to get better and be more of a factor.

``I think San Antonio is a great place. I love the team, I love the people. But the best decision for me was to go somewhere else.''

That place turned out to be the woeful Atlanta Hawks, a team that hasn't made the playoffs in five seasons. Jackson got a one-year deal at a lower salary, and he didn't sign until after the start of training camp.

``I've been taking challenges my whole life, and this is just another one,'' he said. ``All of them are blessings.''

So far, ``challenge'' is just the right word.

Jackson endured more losses by December than he had all of last season. Atlanta stumbled to a 9-24 start, and his frustration finally boiled over after a 10-point loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in December.

He had only four points in 23 minutes, and in the locker room after, he had a heated exchange with the coaching staff.

The specifics of the discussion weren't disclosed, but two days later, Jackson was suspended for one game for ``conduct detrimental to the team.''

``It was me being frustrated,'' Jackson said. ``But if you don't care about losing or get upset by losing, then you shouldn't be here. I was definitely (upset) about that.

``Coming from a championship team to all this losing, I thought the world was coming to an end. I was frustrated with it at first, and I wasn't being a professional and coming and playing every day. Now I am. I understand you're going to have ups and downs, but you've to play as hard as you can, regardless.''

His change in attitude is evident to his teammates.

``I think he'd be the first person to tell you he's grown up a lot this year,'' forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim said. ``It's just a growing process he had to go through, and now that he's passed it, he's helped us out a lot.''

More importantly, the Hawks are 6-6 since they ended a miserable 1-4 road trip to the West Coast in early January _ and Jackson is averaging about 18 points during the .500 run. That's certainly not a spectacular mark, but for this lowly franchise, where losing has become a way of life, it's a veritable hot streak.

``I think guys are taking pride in everything now,'' Jackson said. ``As a team and as an organization, we were not happy about how we played on that West Coast trip. We wanted to change that, and I think everybody dedicated themselves to changing it.''

Overall, Jackson is averaging 14.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists.

Since his suspension, Jackson still is quick with criticism when he feels his teammates aren't giving their all, but he has toned it down a little bit.

``He can fly off the handle one day and the next day be great,'' Atlanta coach Terry Stotts said. ``But he's a pleasure to be around. He's upbeat, he's great in the locker room, and guys like being around him.''

That much is easy to see. Before a recent game, when Jackson came strolling in the locker room wearing a Bo Jackson throwback jersey, he shook hands with everyone in the room _ and not just players.

Suddenly, a quiet room where players were studying video of that night's opponent became very lively.

``Everybody's happy,'' Jackson said. ``You can see the mood in the locker room. It's a joy to come to work. It's a whole different attitude around here, man. We know we can win now.''

Jackson still hasn't given up hopes of getting back to the playoffs _ yes, even with the Hawks _ even though the team is 16-34 heading into Friday night's game at Boston. In the watered down Eastern Conference, that's good enough for 12th, six games out of the final playoff spot.

And he won't allow himself to check out how his old team is doing. For the record, the Spurs are third in the West at 32-18, four games behind Sacramento in the chase for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

``No regrets,'' he said of his decision. ``A lot of people talk down about us now. But I think at the end of the season, a lot of people are going to be talking about the Atlanta Hawks and jumping on our bandwagon.''