Clips' Jordan cites 'intense pressure' of decision
LOS ANGELES — DeAndre Jordan said he woke up the Monday morning after committing to sign with the Dallas Mavericks the previous Friday and had second thoughts about leaving the Los Angeles Clippers.
“I feel like we’ve all made decision in our lives where we’ve had second thoughts about things and have gone back and had to revisit a situation,” Jordan told The Players’ Tribune on Monday. “I definitely feel like this is one of those times for me.”
After verbally agreeing to a four-year max deal with the Mavericks, Jordan made an about-face and re-signed with the Clippers six days later. He signed a four-year max deal worth an estimated $88 million.
Jordan signed the contract after Doc Rivers, Steve Ballmer, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, J.J. Redick and Paul Pierce flew to his home in Houston and spent most of the day with him. They didn’t leave until he signed the deal on what would become an infamous, emoji-filled day on Twitter.
“As everyone knows, I struggled with it,” Jordan said of his decision. “It was nine or 10 days of intense pressure. Every night, I would have a different scenario in my head, of the city and team where I thought I would fit best. I had several meetings with teams and even more conversations with my family and friends. I kept thinking about what it really meant to be home, and I would go back and forth.”
There were reports of a rift between Jordan and Paul, but Jordan said Monday that was overblown a day after Paul said something similar.
“I love Chris, man,” Jordan said. “Chris is a big brother to me. When you play sports, you’re competitive, especially when you play them at as high a level as we have these last few years. And of course, yeah, we all bump heads during the course of the game. But we know that whatever criticisms or arguments we have on the floor, they’re about one thing: winning.”
Griffin offered details about the Clippers players and coaches descending upon Jordan’s house before he re-signed in a first-person story on The Players’ Tribune.
Griffin arrived in Houston on Tuesday and had dinner with Jordan that night, before the big meeting Wednesday at Jordan’s house.
The last correspondence Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he had with Jordan was Tuesday night, when Jordan said he was on a date. At least Cuban now knows whom the date was with.
“By Tuesday morning, I knew he was really struggling with it,” Griffin wrote. “He really didn’t want to disappoint people, but I could tell his heart wasn’t in it. We text every day. It’s not always about basketball. Mostly it’s about life. I’m his friend above all else. I stuffed some clothes into a bag, ran through LAX and got on the first flight to Houston.
“My intention wasn’t to go down and sell DeAndre on the Clippers. We promised each other a long time ago that we’d never do that stuff. I just wanted to be there for my friend and hear him out.
“When we had dinner on Tuesday night — hand to God — we probably talked for five minutes about basketball. I didn’t want to pressure him. It would’ve felt weird. You know how it is with your good friends. I just told him why I thought he was a good fit in L.A., then I said, ‘Look, man, whatever you want to do, I’ll still be your friend.’ And I genuinely meant it. At the end of the day, we’re all human beings. It’s a lot more complicated than picking a jersey. There’s all kinds of pressure from friends, family, agents and people who you just want to make happy.”
Griffin also wrote that Jordan wanted to “clear the air and talk with everybody — which is something we should have done a month ago, but that’s life.”
He laughed at the notion that the Clippers were holding Jordan in his home until he signed the contract.
“To be honest, the whole thing was pretty boring,” Griffin said. “It was like a super laid-back family party. Some people were watching TV. Some people were playing video games. After a while, I hopped in the car and drove aimlessly around Houston for an hour just to kill time. When I got back to the house, we were sitting around waiting for 11 p.m. so DeAndre could officially sign.”
Jordan will answer questions from reporters for the first time since he re-signed with the Clippers on Tuesday, when the Clippers hold a press conference at Staples Center for Jordan and their free-agent signings, including Paul Pierce and Josh Smith.
“Ultimately, I made the right decision for me, and now I have to own that,” Jordan said. “What’s important to me now is to explain how it all happened.”
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