DeAndre Jordan tweets apology to Mavericks, Mark Cuban
Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan tweeted an apology Friday night to the Dallas Mavericks, their fans and owner Mark Cuban for reneging on his verbal commitment to sign with the team and instead re-signing with the Clippers.
“I want to publicly apologize to one of the best owners in the world @MCuban, the @DallasMavs and their fans,” Jordan wrote.
“I am humbled by @DallasMavs & @MCuban kindness and understanding. I am sorry to have a change of heart.”
Jordan’s free agency ultimately became one of the more bizarre storylines in NBA off-season history. The seven-year veteran initially committed to signing a four-year, $80 million maximum contract with the Mavericks after reportedly spending days deciding on whether to leave the Clippers. Free agents and teams could agree on terms of free-agent deals before July 9, but they could not be officially signed.
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On Wednesday, after numerous reports suggested Jordan was considering reneging on his commitment to the Mavericks, a contingent of Clippers players, coach Doc Rivesr and owner Steve Ballmer embarked to Jordan’s off-season home in Houston to convince him to come back to Los Angeles. The players—Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, J.J. Redick and Paul Pierce—tweeted a series of mysterious emoji-filled tweets about their travel plans for getting to Houston, only strengthening the hysteria over Jordan’s odyssey through free agency.
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After a quick meeting at his house Wednesday night, Jordan agreed to re-sign with the Clippers. Mavericks forward Chandler Parsons expressed his disappointment with the decision by saying Jordan “wasn’t ready to be a franchise player” and Cuban said the communications between himself and Jordan essentially stopped on Tuesday, leading Cuban to fly to Houston in a last-ditch effort to convince Jordan to stick with the Mavericks.
- Mike Fiammetta
