SALT LAKE CITY – As teams and players spend much of the day trying to get I’s dotted and t’s crossed on new contracts, the NBA was still buzzing about DeAndre Jordan’s about-face in returning to the Los Angeles Clippers after having previously committed to sign with the Dallas Mavericks.
A contingent of Clippers players and front office officials, among them former Celtics coach Doc Rivers, converged on Jordan’s home in Houston and did not leave until they had their man signed to a four-year deal reportedly worth about $87 million.
There were a slew of head-scratching decisions made by Jordan.
For starters, he wouldn’t let the Dallas Mavericks have an 11th-hour opportunity to make their plea for him to stick to the four-year, $80 million contract they offered and he verbally accepted.
Jordan’s representatives were also kept literally on the outside looking in, in the final hours of the league-wide moratorium, which ended at 12:01 a.m. Thursday morning.
The Clippers’ contingent did not leave until Jordan had signed the necessary paperwork for his new deal.
“I’ve never seen anything quite like it,” said a veteran team executive. “I don’t know what Mark [Cuban, the Mavericks owner] is going to do but you can bet he’s not going to just let this happen and not do anything about it.”
Players throughout the league are just as dumbfounded by it all, including the Celtics' Marcus Smart.
Although he’s coming up on his second NBA season, Smart has been a recruited athlete for years and is well aware of how players can have a change of heart.
Still, the Jordan saga was unlike anything he had ever seen, experienced or even heard about before.
“It’s weird,” Smart said. “You’re not used to it. But hey, it’s DeAndre’s decision ultimately. So that’s what it all boils down to.”