Becoming an All-Star ruined DeAndre Jordan's vacation plans
Last Thursday’s announcement that NBA coaches had named DeAndre Jordan as one of the reserves on the Western Conference team that will suit up at next month’s 2017 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans came as something of a surprise to us here at BDL. Evidently, we weren’t alone.
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Despite entering last Thursday as the NBA’s leader in both field-goal percentage and rebounding, the Los Angeles Clippers center was so confident he wouldn’t be selected to participate in the midseason exhibition that he was about to pull the trigger on an All-Star Weekend getaway, according to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated:
So you didn’t think you would be selected as an All-Star?
After practice on Thursday, I had my trip to Hawaii ready to go. I was superexcited about it. I was waiting for this one last little thing [All-Star announcement]. I was leaving at 6 in the morning [of Feb. 16] and was ready to rock. Someone texted me and said, ‘Hey, you got to cancel that trip to Hawaii.’ I was like, ‘No, this is done. This is set. What’s up?’
I was thinking that they would have known at practice if I made it or not. They didn’t say nothing at practice, so I was like, ‘Cool, I didn’t make it. I’m about to set my trip up.’
Who was the first person you contacted?
I called my mom and said, ‘I’m not going to Hawaii.’ And she was like, ‘Why not? What’s going on?’ So I said, ‘I made the All-Star team.’ She said, ‘Oh, my God. For real? Don’t play with me, boy.’ I said, ‘For real.’ She said, ‘DeAndre, stop playing.’ I said, ‘This is what I was told,’ She said, ‘What they say? They better not be bulls—ing, you.’ I said, ‘Mom, I’m telling you what they told me.’ So she was superexcited.
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To be clear, we weren’t surprised at Jordan’s selection because he didn’t deserve consideration. We just thought that if the West’s coaches were going to go for a defense-and-rebounding-first, pick-and-roll-finishing center, they’d opt for Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz, the linchpin of the NBA’s No. 2 defense and a Defensive Player of the Year favorite who has made real strides on offense to become nearly as devastating a pick-and-roll space-creator and finisher as Jordan (and now with the ability to hit free throws, to boot).
In this specific case, Jordan-over-Gobert seems like a snub to me. With Chris Paul shelved by injury, Blake Griffin only just returned after missing a month after knee surgery, and Gordon Hayward presenting a compelling case for his own inclusion, perhaps coaches decided the best way to recognize both the West’s fourth and fifth seeds was to opt for Jordan and the higher-scoring Hayward, giving both Utah and L.A. one All-Star slot. Or maybe they just thought Jordan has been flat-out better; as our Ben Rohrbach noted last week, the box score and advanced statistical profiles of the two big men are pretty similar.
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That’s a bummer for Gobert, of course, but not an indefensible position, and one that fills in an empty spot on the résumé of a player who has twice earned an All-NBA selection and All-Defensive First Team honoree, and who played a big role on the U.S. Olympic team that won gold in Rio de Janeiro this summer. A second-round pick in the 2008 NBA draft, Jordan has long since earned his place in the conversation of the league’s top big men; now, in his ninth season, he’s got the All-Star bona fides to match. More from Spears:
Had you given up on the possibility of being an All-Star after not making it the previous eight seasons?
I did. I was at peace with it. I was cool. I know my value around the league. I know my teammates respect me and guys around the league do, too. I wasn’t concerned about it anymore. After three years I was like, ‘All right, cool.’ Starting three years ago, I was looking forward to my vacation, hanging out and supporting my teammates who did go. It’s my ninth season, but better late than never.
Better late than never, yes, but best of all before you lock in the travel arrangements. Those non-refundable fares can be brutal.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
