I might as well weigh in on that bizarre DeAndre Jordan situation that broke out between the NBA’s Clippers and Mavericks, although it’s a bit after the fact.
Jordan, for those who don’t follow the NBA, is a talented 7 foot center that made an agreement to leave the Los Angeles Clippers for the Dallas Mavericks for what would have been an 80 million dollar contract, then reneged on the verbal commitment days later to stay in Los Angeles. He was able to do this because the NBA uses a 10-day open negotiation period before any contract can be officially signed; those signings, however, are considered formalities by and large by players and coaches.
I’ve heard a few people say that Jordan has the right to change his mind and that’s just the way the cookie crumbles; not many people, mind you, but it’s an opinion that’s found at least some traction. I’ll say this: people make mistakes, and they tend to make more of them under pressure. When Jordan and his mother assert that his agent didn’t have his best interests at heart, it seems like at least a light cop-out (sports agents tend to hang among the easiest of targets for the public’s ire), but its plausible that Jordan reassessed the situation, backed up, and decided his best course of action was to stay with a Clippers team he was winning plenty of games with versus going to Dallas on the advice of an agent he may not have trusted.
But when that crazy night happened, Jordan hiding out until midnight with his Clipper teammates from the outside world, it really left me devoid of sympathy for him. He made a decision that impacted a lot of other lives. The Mavericks’ offseason was pretty much blown up. Other players signed with the Mavericks expecting Jordan to be there; talented shooting guard Wesley Matthews actually got 13 million dollars added to his Mavs deal after Jordan spurned Dallas, a not-so-subtle indication Matthews may have been willing to leave town as well after the news.
Even given that, I’d agree that Jordan had to do what was best for him; agreeing to go to Dallas in the first place was his greatest sin here, if he wasn’t fully sure of what he wanted to do. But when he reportedly refused to accept even a phone call from Mavs owner Mark Cuban to let him know he was backing out … that’s pretty low, in my estimation. Apologizing to Cuban, or even just facing the music at all, wouldn’t have made things right, but it’s just something you do. Semantics, maybe, but that part of it almost makes me angrier than the actuality of Jordan going back on a deal. “ Mark, I’m sorry, but I made a mistake and I feel I have to do this for me.”
Then Cuban can say what he wants or needs to. Then it’s over. At least you did him that courtesy.
Or, you could sit in your house, play cards for a few hours until your signing deadline with teammates who are tweeting out jokes about the situation while you cut yourself off from the outside world. He took the latter approach. That’s too bad.
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