On Wednesday, DeAndre Jordan will take on the Dallas Mavericks in front of Dallas' home crowd for the first time since having a change of heart and spurning the team during free agency. Jordan's decision to reject the Mavericks' contract offer after initially accepting it and then not directly inform Mavericks owner Mark Cuban of his reversal infuriated both Cuban and Mavericks fans.
Mark Cuban wants Mavericks fans to yell at DeAndre Jordan
The Clippers’ center comes to Dallas for the first time since spurning the Mavericks.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Cuban said he expects fans at Dallas’ American Airlines Center to relish being given the opportunity to let Jordan know how they feel about his decision.
“I think they’re going to have fun with it,” Cuban said, via ESPN. “You know, that’s what they should do. You come to games to have fun. Look, this is not thermonuclear war. This is a basketball game, and for fans, it’s supposed to be fun. Any other business, we would have had more fun with it, but just the nature, we can’t. But yeah, I hope they have fun with it. I hope they scream, they yell.”
Cuban was then asked if he’d react towards Jordan as well.
“Hell yeah, I’ll boo,” Cuban said, while laughing according to ESPN, before adding: “Nah, there’s no point.”
Had Jordan gone through with his decision and accepted the Mavericks' four-year, $80 million offer, he would have been one of the highest profile free agency signings in team history. Instead, he elected to to accept the Los Angeles Clippers' four-year, $87.7 million deal after conversations with Clippers coach and president Doc Rivers and point guard Chris Paul. (There was also the famous emoji battle between the two teams).
This season Jordan is averaging 10.1 points, 13.3 rebounds and 3.9 blocks per game for the 5-2 Clippers. The Mavericks, meanwhile, are 3-4 after a double-digit loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Jordan was asked if he expect the hostile welcome to bother him.
“Nah, I don’t care. It’s cool,” he said. “It’s just another game. It’s going to be hostile, but it’s supposed to be. It’s cool.”
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