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Jordan Explains Decision To Stay In LA

Rowan Kavner

LOS ANGELES – DeAndre Jordan didn’t want the drama. That, however, was inevitable in Jordan’s final days as a 26-year-old.

But as Jordan spoke Tuesday afternoon on his 27th birthday, explaining his choice to stay in Los Angeles after a long, drawn-out decision that left Clippers fans ultimately ecstatic and Mavericks fans upset, the past month’s hysterics seemed to be in the rear view.

Jordan, after all, was content with his final decision as he spoke next to his future teammates during the Clippers’ free-agent signing press conference.

“When I factored coming back to the Clippers, I really thought about being on one team for my entire career, and that was really important to me,” Jordan said. “The past two seasons I’ve had, I have been really successful with these guys and with this group of players and the organization.”

He said the sky’s the limit for this group of Clippers. He knows the city, the fans and the team and said he loves being in Los Angeles. It was that familiarity that Jordan, once he took a step back and evaluated his choices, eventually realized he wanted.

“When free agency started, this whole fiasco was not my intent,” Jordan said. “But originally with Dallas, like I said before, I thought I wanted change and I needed change in my career. I wanted a bigger role and more responsibility, and I was ready to embrace and accept that challenge. But then, like I said, when I got by myself and I was able to think about everything that just happened, I realized that being with the Clippers was the best decision for me.”

That’s not to say Jordan can’t get more responsibility staying where he is. He said he still feels like that can happen in Los Angeles after speaking with head coach Doc Rivers following a season in which he averaged a career-high 11.5 points and a career-high 15 rebounds per game.

“I believe so,” Jordan said. “Like I said, we talked about it. The best thing for me is to be here, and I’m going to be successful while I’m here.”

There were a list of reasons Jordan considered going to Dallas. He was enamored by the free-agent process and the wooing, and he heard about how he could be the focal point of a new team. For a while, that sparked his interest. But it didn’t take long once he made his initial decision to know it wasn’t what he wanted.

“When we make decisions in life and then we go back and change our minds on them, I feel like the only thing you can do is man up and apologize for it and voice your opinion, and that’s what I did,” Jordan said. “I can’t speak for Mark (Cuban) or anybody else or anything. I’m speaking for myself, and that’s what I did.”

Jordan also cleared up any rumors about possible friction with Chris Paul making him want to leave. He said he loves Paul and credited the point guard for changing the culture of the team.

“He helped me out in so many ways on and off the floor, just becoming a better player and a student of the game,” Jordan said. “On the floor, we were both emotional and vocal players, but when it comes down to it, we’re all criticizing each other because we want what’s best for the team.”

Jordan said when two players butt heads, 30 seconds later the conflict is over because it’s all about trying to win.

“I think that we let facial expressions and outside stories dictate what we believe, but Chris is like a big brother to me and other guys on this team,” Jordan said.
Jordan also cleared up any notions about the Clippers forcing him to stay in his house during the final meeting in Houston.

“First of all, it wasn’t a hostage situation,” Jordan joked. “I feel like I’m a pretty big guy and they can’t lock me inside my own house. But, no, we all got together and we talked about different things and what we needed to do as an organization to reach the highest goal that we wanted to reach as a group. Like I said, I realized what was important, and this team and this organization was. I’m happy I’m here.”

That final meeting sealed the deal in Jordan remaining with the Clippers, as it ended with the star center signing his contract. Rivers said from a player’s standpoint, the player should end up where he wants to end up.

“And if it takes going through that process, then it’s worth it,” Rivers said. “Obviously, in my opinion, I think he did exactly what he should do. I think he made the right decision.”

That decision from Jordan also happened to play a vital role in many of the players surrounding him at Tuesday’s press conference choosing to play in Los Angeles.

“Obviously when you’re a free agent, you make decisions based on where you feel is the best fit for you in order to make yourself the most successful,” said Josh Smith. “So looking at this roster, being able to have an opportunity to play for a point guard, arguably one of the best point guards in the game, and a dominant big like DeAndre and Blake (Griffin), and the supporting cast that surrounds it, it was very attractive to me and this is why I made the decision.”