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THE LOS ANGELES Clippers have re-signed free agent DeAndre Jordan to a four-year contract just five days after Jordan verbally committed to the Dallas Mavericks.
The change of heart appears to have been prompted by several members of the Clippers organisation arriving at Jordan’s home and staying until they witnessed the signature happen.
In the final 24 hours before the NBA’s moratorium on signing free agents was lifted, the tide seemed to shift with an 11th hour, $80 million play by the Clippers to get Jordan to change his mind. The move seemed to work as Jordan agreed to meet with coach and general manager Doc Rivers and several Clippers players at his home.
Things got weird in the closing hours as a contingent of Clippers, including owner Steve Ballmer, coach Doc Rivers, and players Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, and Paul Pierce decided they were not going to leave Jordan’s home until his new contract was signed at 12:01 am eastern, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.
Jordan reportedly refused to meet with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. ESPN’s Tim MacMahon added that Jordan wouldn’t even take phone calls from Cuban or Chandler Parsons, who was heavily involved in recruiting Jordan.
An apparently stranded Cuban was left to drive around LA trying to find Jordan’s house, “begging” the defensive star’s family for the address via text messages.
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Blake Griffin was evidently taking no chances, blocking Jordan’s front door just to make sure he couldn’t be tempted anywhere by a big wad of Texan cash.
And shortly after midnight, any fears the Clippers had went away as Paul Pierce – newly recruited from the Wizards — posted a photo of Griffin signing his new contract to stay with the Clippers.
It was later reported that Jordan told one teammate that he felt that his agent, Dan Fegan, had “pushed him to Dallas” and later changed his mind. Fegan was not present at Jordan’s house when he signed the contract and instead had the contract certified by another representative from the agency.
Originally published at 16.10
