The U-Turn of DeAndre Jordan

It seemed the Los Angeles Clippers core would be damaged beyond repair. DeAndre Jordan, the team’s star centre felt he would never become an All-Star with Griffin and Paul in the team. There were rumours circulating that Jordan and Paul had a rift between them all season, primarily because of Jordan not improving his free throw accuracy in practice.

When Free Agency negotiations opened, he was determined to leave. 3 July saw him verbally agree to a $80 Million, Four year deal with Dallas Mavericks (one of his close friends, Chandler Parsons plays for the Mavericks and was said to be recruiting him in). A few days later, just a day before the Verbal deals could be signed to make them official, Jordan had a change of heart. On top of that, several key Los Angeles Clippers personnel flew to his home in Houston to convince him to stay. The party included Doc Rivers, Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. The result left Dallas ownership, fans and its players fuming when he officially resigned a multiyear contract with Clippers.

In Short, what does it mean? The Clippers keep their core which they feel, along with the addition of Paul Pierce, might lead to a NBA Title challenge. It might sound farfetched given the nature of the Western Conference, but anything is possible. For the Dallas, it was a devastating blow. They had already traded Tyson Chandler to Phoenix. In a quick move, they signed Zaza Pachulia from Milwaukee. But in all honesty, anyone below DeAndre Jordan right now, would not do for Mavericks.

What really followed was shock. Rarely would you see a player, so determined to leave backtrack on his original decision of leaving the franchise. That is what happened with Jordan. And the timing could not come at a worse time as the decision was revised just hours before the contracts could be signed, and he refused to communicate with the Dallas Mavericks owners and officials as he blocked their attempts to talk to him.

Jordan had apologised on Friday to the Dallas Mavericks and praised Mark Cuban as one of the most amazing owners.

It did not go down well with the always outspoken Cuban who said

“When’s an apology not an apology? When you didn’t write it yourself. Next.”

Cuban was not alone. Parson’s a friend or Jordan and was unofficially the major player of Dallas involved in recruiting Jordan, said in an interview whit ESPN

“I’m shocked, very disappointed, frustrated, disrespected. This is something that I’ve never seen in my career, and I know that it doesn’t happen very often. When a man gives you his word and an organization his word, especially when that organization put in so much effort and I walked him through this process and was very, very open and willing to work with him, it’s just very unethical and disrespectful.”

“Yeah, he was very randomly responding to me, but he was not responding to Mark at all, which in my eyes is very unprofessional. An owner that bent over backwards, did whatever you said throughout this process and was giving you a chance to be great, I don’t know how you shut him out and close the door on him when he’s in your city and just wanting to meet with you and get a face-to-face with you like you said that you were going to and just completely ignoring you, I don’t know how he did that.

“The kind of guy that he is, the kind of guy I thought he is, would never do something like that. That’s tough for me to swallow, just from the fact that I know how excited Mark was. I know how invested Mark has been throughout this whole process. That’s what I don’t get.

“Be a professional. Pick up the phone. If you’re not going to meet with him, pick up the phone and tell the guy that you’re committed to what you’re feeling, what you’re going through and maybe he can talk it out and help you. But do not ignore the guy. Do not make him sit there and sweat it out. That’s just very unprofessional. I can’t get over that part.”

Parsons even suggested that Jordan is not ready to become a Franchise player and will be in the shadow of Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. Whatever be the case, if Jordan could hold the Larry O’Brien Trophy, he really would not care.

The Dallas and Mark Cuban (who is on the NBA Board of Governors) will no doubt try to push for a change in rules in the Free Agency regarding backtracking of decisions. This might never be implemented or might be in the future. As of now, Jordan will not be warmly welcomed when Clippers face Dallas at American Airlines Centre.