DeAndre Jordan leaves agent Dan Fegan after controversial summer
When coveted free-agent center DeAndre Jordan broke a verbal agreement to join the Dallas Mavericks to return to the Los Angeles Clippers, analysts and observers wondered what could have changed his mind over the course of just a few days. Did the Clippers wage an assault to convince him L.A. was the place for him? Was their emoji science too tight? Was Blake Griffin’s chair barricade just too strong?
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While speculation over the cause varied and did not absolve Jordan of his mistakes, the most informed takes suggested that the shot-blocking, oop-dunking dynamo had felt pushed into the Mavericks deal by agent Dan Fegan, who has a longstanding relationship with Mark Cuban. The smart money said that Jordan would not retain Fegan’s services for long after his reversal.
That has now come to pass. According to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times, Jordan has parted ways with Fegan and his fellow representatives at Relativity Sports:
Jordan informed agents Dan Fegan and Jarinn Akana last week that he was moving “in another direction,” said an NBA official not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Despite leaving Relativity Sports, Jordan still had to pay the agency the 4% it earned when he re-signed with the Clippers for $88 million over four years.
Jordan now has left three agents in seven seasons – Joel Bell, Wasserman Media Group and now Relativity Sports. He can’t sign with another agent until 15 days have passed after letting his former agents go.
Liz Mullen of the SportsBusiness Journal reported that Jordan’s Clippers teammate Austin Rivers has also left Relativity to join ASM Sports, although it’s not clear if his decision is related to the Jordan saga.
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Reports at the time of Jordan’s decision to go back to the Clippers indicated that he felt Fegan had pushed him towards the Mavericks due to his relationship with Cuban. The two have worked together on several deals in the past (not all successful) and were thought to have orchestrated Jordan’s move to Dallas in some detail. Jordan’s dissatisfaction seemed clear on the day of his move back to Los Angeles, when he apparently did not contact Fegan about his change of heart and left a number of interested parties in the dark.
Jordan will now need to find new representation, although his new four-year deal takes away some of the urgency. Whenever he decides to make his choice, it’s likely that prospective agents will want some kind of explanation of what went down with the Mavericks, Clippers, and Fegan.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
