Rowan Kavner
PLAYA VISTA, Calif. – It doesn’t take long for newcomers to see the difference DeAndre Jordan makes.
He’s the defensive leader and a double-double machine in the middle, capable of finishing just about any lob heading his direction. It all comes together to leave Paul Pierce with a prediction for the center he describes as “a special talent.”
“He’s one of the few guys I’ve been surprised hasn’t made the All-Star Game,” Pierce said, “but I suspect that’s going to probably change this year.”
Players around the league have to take notice of what Jordan’s done the last few years.
He’s gone from a solid contributor who averaged 8.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game during the 2012-13 season to one of the Clippers’ “Big Three,” averaging a double-double each of the last two seasons, including 11.5 points and 15 rebounds per game last year.
What’s stood out to Pierce since joining the Clippers is Jordan’s professional approach and work ethic. He knows Jordan’s improved every season he’s been in the league, and he sees firsthand now the difference Jordan makes inside.
“Just to have a center like that who clogs up the middle, blocks shots, who can defend well in pick-and-roll and dunks everything underneath,” Pierce said, “it’s rare you get to play with a guy like that.”
When Pierce signed with the Clippers this offseason, he didn’t know with certainty if Jordan would come back – he just assumed he would.
So, much like head coach Doc Rivers, Pierce was surprised when he heard Jordan was going to be a Maverick.
“You lose DeAndre, it changes not only my complexion about us having a chance to win it, but the whole franchise’s complexion about it,” Pierce said. “I came here to try to win a championship.”
And he knows Jordan, who set the single-season franchise record for rebounds in a season last year while finishing second all-time to only Wilt Chamberlain in field goal percentage for a single season, was a necessary piece for that to happen.
When Jordan made his eventual decision to return to the Clippers, it signaled a return of one of the team’s core leaders to the locker room. When Wesley Johnson thinks about the biggest influence on him early this year, it’s not a guard or a forward who comes to mind first.
It’s Jordan.
“He’s always telling me what to look for, what they’re looking for from me, offensively what I should do and defensively, too,” Johnson said. “It’s all the aspects.”
Specifically, Jordan’s helped Johnson defensively by explaining where to be on the pick-and-roll, how to cut off players a certain way, and how, why and when to funnel players inside to Jordan, who’s the most vocal defender Johnson’s ever been around.
Johnson said no one he’s played with even compares to Jordan from a defensively vocal standpoint, and it’s fun for him to defend knowing who’s behind him when he’s playing with the starters.
“It’s like you’re going into a fight,” Johnson explained with a grin, “if you walk in and see a room full of people but you hear people talking behind you, you feel a little bit better about that instead of walking in there blindly.”
Head coach Doc Rivers said Jordan’s lively offseason has allowed the center to grow, though he added that’s an inevitable process for any notable player entering free agency and its horde of suitors.
But he likes how Jordan has responded since making his ultimate decision.
“He's been great,” Rivers said. “He's maturing, he's arrived, and he gets it. I don't know what else you can ask from him.”
On one hand, things are different this year for Jordan. Expectations are higher and the limelight is directly on him after everything that transpired.
On the other, those who know him best don’t see what occurred this offseason impacting the guy they’re used to.
“It’s same old DJ,” said Blake Griffin, “still doing what he does on the court and off the court, still the same old guy. I don’t know. I wouldn’t say this summer had a huge impact; things are still pretty much the same.”
The same, Griffin said, apart from the fact that every year the core members of the team take a bigger step forward from a leadership perspective. Jamal Crawford said Jordan’s always been a great worker, but his voice carries more weight now.
Crawford said to see Jordan go from a second-round pick to a star of the Clippers is a credit to the center.
“He’s always been our defensive anchor and defensive leader, but now he’s officially one of the better players,” Crawford said. “It’s like he’s grown to that. When he says something, you listen, and it comes from a place where he’s not trying to embarrass you, he’s trying to do what’s best for the team.”