DeAndre Jordan is going to sign with the Dallas Mavericks according to all reports, and the efforts of Dirk Nowitzki apparently had an impact on his decision.
LA Times reporter Brad Turner says Jordan was impressed that Mavs star Dirk Nowitzki left a family vacation to come meet with him:
Source: DJ impressed that Dirk Nowitzki come off family vacation for meeting in LA. None of the Clipper players were at meeting.
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) July 3, 2015
In contrast, only Doc Rivers, owner Steve Ballmer, and exec Gillian Zucker were at the Clippers’ meeting for Jordan.
To me, this isn’t so much about what the Clippers didn’t do as it is about what Jordan wanted. From the sounds of things he just really wanted to leave the Clippers. Whether that was due to wanting a bigger role on a team and to be out of the shadow of Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, and/or whether it had to do with not getting along with CP3, it’s obvious he just preferred to be in Dallas.
I don’t blame the Clippers for not having players at the meeting; Jordan knows all his ex-teammates, so what could they really say to him in a meeting? Plus there’s that whole reasoning that if you have to sell a player to return to his old team, then he probably doesn’t want to be there anyway.
