DeAndre Jordan gives his side of Mavs-Clippers free-agency drama
Note: The Los Angeles Clippers’ news conference to introduce the club’s free-agent signings can be seen live on FOXSportsWest.com at noon PT on Tuesday. Players expected at the news conference include Paul Pierce, Josh Smith, DeAndre Jordan and Austin Rivers.
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Giving his first in-depth public account of his controversial free-agent courtship on Monday, the Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan explained his reasoning behind reneging on an agreement with the Dallas Mavericks and deciding to re-sign with Los Angeles.
In a story entitled “Getting It Right,” Jordan wrote in The Players’ Tribune that he struggled with the decision for more than a week, found it hard to sleep and come to a decision, and said the rumors of his strained relationship with point guard Chris Paul are just that.
In the early stages of free agency, Jordan reached a verbal agreement with the Mavericks and owner Mark Cuban, but did not sign the deal because of the league-mandated moratorium on free-agent signings. In the days between the agreement and the lifting of the moratorium, Jordan says he struggled with his decision to leave the Clippers, the only team he has played for since they drafted him 35th overall in 2008.
As he writes in his article:
In a video posted to TPT and embedded below, Jordan adds:
Jordan, who also celebrates his 27th birthday Tuesday, said he originally agreed to the deal with Dallas because he thought he wanted change. But he ultimately agreed on a reported four-year, $88 million contract with the Clippers and signed it as soon as the moratorium ended on July 9.
Jordan then apologized to Cuban and the Mavericks fans and organization, an apology which Cuban promptly refused to accept and instead ripped Jordan over.
"Let’s just say that free agency wasn’t what I expected it to be," Jordan wrote. "I thought it was going to be fun. I thought it was going to be like when I got recruited during college. But as it turns out, deciding what your future is going to be like is mostly a headache."
With respect to his relationship with Paul, his All-NBA teammate with whom he reportedly has a difficult time seeing eye-to-eye with, Jordan said:
One of the most publicized aspects of Jordan’s free-agency courtship was a rumored meeting / intervention / standoff at Jordan’s house at Houston, trying to convince him to stay after rumors of his second thoughts began to surface.
Writing his own comedic piece in the Tribune entitled “The Standoff,” Clippers star Blake Griffin mused:
Griffin contends "the whole thing was pretty boring."
Boring or not, the Clippers got their man.
