On July 8, 2015 DeAndre Jordan, the starting center of the Los Angeles Clippers, had to make one of the hardest decisions of his life, whether to stay with the L.A Clippers or sign with the Dallas Mavericks. After Jordan made his decision to sign with Dallas the Clippers had another idea and decided to hold Jordan hostage in his own home to keep him with the team.
DeAndre Jordan is one of the best big men in the NBA now. He averages 11.5 points per game, 15 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game in his 82 regular season games. At the end of the season the Clippers lost to the Houston Rockets in the playoffs after being up 3-1 in the series. The franchise once again failed to earn a spot in the 3rd round.
During the off season DeAndre Jordan decided to explore his options as a free agent and look at other possible team that would interest him. DeAndre saw that the Dallas Mavericks as a better fit for him. Jordan decided to go to Dallas mainly because of some personal issues he had with his teammate Chris Paul, the starting point guard of the Clippers. “Jordan and Chris Paul had gotten into it more than once, which led Jordan to start seriously contemplating what it might be like to play elsewhere in 2015-16,” Kevin Arnovitz, a staff writer for ESPN, wrote in a story. “He was tired of Paul’s constant barking and petty gestures, like distributing high-fives to the three other guys on the floor following a timeout but somehow freezing out Jordan.”
DeAndre then turned down a 5 year $109 million contract with the Clippers for a 4 year $80 million with Dallas. Although, DeAndre verbally agreed to sign with Dallas, he never did. When it was time for him to fly to Dallas to sign his new contract, the Clippers saw that losing their prized center would decrease their chances to getting past the second round of the playoffs. The Clippers went to Dallas and try to find a way to convince DeAndre to stay with them. On the night of the signing the Clippers kept DeAndre hostage at his home for the night.
“Clippers believe DJ is returning to LA but I’m told they are staying at his house until he can sign at midnight.” Ramona Shelburne a senior writer for ESPN.com tweeted.
Another tweet from Adrian Wojnarowski an American sports columnist, said, “So far, Clippers able to keep everyone else out of house, including Cuban, agents. Everyone. They’re in four-corners until midnight Eastern.”
Blake Griffin one of DeAndre’s teammates posted on twitter “Don’t agree with the furniture layout but I’m not an interior designer,” a picture of a chair blocking the door preventing anyone from leaving or coming in.
Another tweet which said “Alright everybody goodnight!” with a picture of a tent showing that they were camping out there for the night.
DeAndre however didn’t look like he was making an attempt to stop them. Reports from Yahoo shows that they were enjoying themselves and having fun. “Clippers, DeAndre Jordan meeting was short. It was clear he was returning to them. Then they started to play cards”. Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted.
DeAndre Jordan is now returning to the Clippers. Under the current circumstances this was probably the best way to handle the situation because now the Clippers are in a position to finally get to the 3rd round and maybe a shot at the championship. Clipper fans should be excited for the season ahead. As for the Dallas Mavericks, they need to find another overpowered center to fill their starting role because DJ is coming home.
