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From All-NBA To Olympics, DeAndre Jordan Gets His Due

LAS VEGAS – Only three days of Team USA practice conclude, and assistant coach Jim Boeheim already thinks he’s looking at the best defensive center he’s ever had on the team.

The Syracuse head coach and longtime USA assistant, who was part of the coaching staff that won gold medals in 2008 and 2012, can declare that almost definitely despite not having seen DeAndre Jordan play in an actual Olympic game yet.

“I love him,” Boeheim said. “He’s about the hardest working big guy I’ve seen…He just goes after everything. He’s always engaged, he’s moving, there’s no down time, he’s not taking a play off and he plays hard.”

Any coach would take those traits. For years, however, coaches never saw them. Or, rather, they only saw them sparingly.

When people referred to Jordan for most of his career, they talked about building blocks and potential almost exclusively. That’s part of the dilemma for a second-round pick who only made 13 starts his rookie year and 12 his second year. It’s almost as if his first five or so years in the league were a scouting report. He had the pieces to thrive, but never received much credit for actually arriving as a star player in the NBA.

Until now.

“I had to fight through a lot of things since I’ve been drafted, a lot of ups and downs in my career, and I’m starting to see the light a little bit,” Jordan said. “It’s a great feeling.”

The recognition picked up last summer with his first All-Defensive First Team and All-NBA Third Team honors. He was coming off his second straight season leading the league in rebounding and third straight season leading the league in field goal percentage. The respect began to follow for reasons beyond the dunks and highlight fodder everyone already knew Jordan could provide nightly.

Still, no All-Star nominations. As much as that may have bothered him, he trucked on.

As he’d done each year in the NBA, in 2015-16, Jordan wrapped up an eighth straight season with more points than the year prior. Last season marked his third straight year averaging a double-double and his second straight year shooting at least 70 percent from the floor, a feat never before accomplished in NBA history.

And, in a league where many say the center position’s value is diminished, people noticed more and more.

First came a second straight First Team All-Defense honor. Then came arguably the most tremendous honor of Jordan’s career, one that immediately struck him, as days later he was named to the All-NBA First Team for the first time in his career.

“That was huge, man,” Jordan said. “First Team All-Defense, that was great, that was one of my goals coming into this league, and I’ve got that a couple times. But First Team All-NBA, that’s bigger than a lot of things; that’s bigger than being an All-Star.”

As if that weren’t enough, this summer continues to serve as Jordan’s universal burst onto the scene, as the Clippers’ center was named one of 12 athletes set to represent the USA in his first Olympic Games – an honor Jordan said surpasses any other in his career.

It’s impossible for Jordan not to feel, in some respects, that he’s finally arrived.

As he sits next to his Olympic teammates before practice, he thinks back to the draft, watching 34 picks go before him.

He thinks back to his rookie year, averaging 14.5 minutes per game, and his next year, averaging 16.2.

He thinks back to the All-Star Games he was never a part of, and how far he needed to go to be sitting where he is inside the Mendenhall Center at UNLV, preparing to represent his country.

“I kept fighting,” Jordan said. “And I had a lot of good people around me.”

He meant that off the court, but this week more than ever it applies on the court as well, as Jordan practices this week with his Olympic teammates, many of whom are mesmerized by how much Jordan accomplishes on the court.

Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski said what surprised him most about Jordan was how, after three days, Jordan looked no different than Day 1. That was unusual for any player, let alone a center relied upon so significantly on defense. That might be explain why, until recently, Jordan was the NBA’s ironman for consecutive games played despite his demanding position.

Jordan’s the only Team USA member not to be selected to an All-Star Game, yet his All-Star teammates are the ones enthralled by him. 

“He’s a freak of an athlete, man,” said Carmelo Anthony. “That guy is 7-foot something, can jump out the gym, most athletic person in the NBA. I mean, just his presence on the court, you don’t see that often. He’s a one of a kind specimen.”

Paul George called Jordan “perfect” for the international game. Kyle Lowry said he’s in amazement watching what Jordan can do on both sides of the court, and added how much fun it is to be able to lob a ball at the rim and watch Jordan go get it, as Lowry’s done at practice throughout the week.

More than any of the athletic displays, though, Jordan’s USA teammates are realizing how much more he is than meets the eye.

“He’s like a point guard,” said Kevin Durant, one of Jordan’s best friends on the team. “Point guards create plays for others. The way he rolls to the rim and commands so much attention, he gets everybody open shots.”

As head coach Doc Rivers watches along from the stands at practice, he sees everyone else witnessing what he does on a daily basis. As Rivers said, “DJ does what DJ does,” he’s now just doing it representing his country.

But Rivers, who was instrumental in Jordan’s development the last few years, isn’t satisfied yet. He’s seen the vast jumps Jordan’s made in a short amount of time.

Why stop now?

“I don’t know if it’s the ‘Summer of DeAndre,’” Rivers said. But DJ is just coming into his own, and I think he still has a ceiling to get to.”