The man best-positioned to turn up the heat in the NBA’s Cold War decided to hold off escalation – at least on his first day of work.
After flipping coasts and NBA star-powered rosters, DeAndre Jordan asked how he’s getting along with Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving and his old teammates in Brooklyn these days.
“We’re definitely not friends anymore,” he dead-panned, before laughing off the playful jab.
Jordan, 33, isn’t looking to start drama as a new member of the Lakers, who officially signed him Thursday afternoon after the Nets sent him off. Brooklyn traded him to Detroit last week in an effort to clear his salary from their books, and the Pistons promptly bought him out. Almost immediately, the Lakers were favored to scoop up the 7-footer at the veteran’s minimum ($2.6 million).
On the ending to his Nets tenure, Jordan said: “It worked out better for the both of us.”
Jordan is one of this era’s best rim-rolling rebounders, a center who in his prime was one of the NBA’s best defenders. But Jordan – who spent the majority of his 13-year career across town with the Clippers – is still hunting for an elusive championship. And whether that’s done in Brooklyn or in Los Angeles doesn’t seem to shift Jordan’s point of view.
“Just to be able to be with a team like this with guys that you respect and guys that you’ve competed against for the past – going into my 14th season – has been great in seeing, ‘I wonder what it would be like to play with this guy,’” he said. “And you always think about that, whether you tell people or not.”
Jordan has always been across the scorer’s table from his highest-wattage new teammates, but he said he’s long respected them. From the overall ability and talent of Anthony Davis, to the unselfish playing style of LeBron James, to the frenetic energy and aggression of Russell Westbrook (said Jordan: “I don’t have to contest him at the rim every night”).
Then there’s Dwight Howard, a player Jordan admired as an aspiring NBA big man before making the league himself and going head-to-head with him for years in the paint. Howard posted on Instagram when Jordan’s signing became official: “I see greatness in you,” he wrote in a picture with the two of them.
“It’s been great being able to see him,” Jordan said, “and now we’re teammates is awesome.”
Jordan’s role has diminished in recent seasons as he’s morphed from a star of the Lob City Clippers to more of a journeyman. Last season he averaged just 7.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in 57 games for the Nets. But the native Texan is also crystal clear on his responsibilities with the Lakers: get rebounds, block and deflect shots, finish around the basket. He acknowledged that he knows sometimes the Lakers will play smaller – the team intends to use Davis at center more often this season – and that he might play fewer minutes depending on the matchups.
But Jordan also is energized by playing with Westbrook and James, who he believes could help revitalize him as a scoring threat around the rim.
“Those guys being able to have such speed and strength, being able to get downhill so quickly, it puts a lot of pressure on defenses,” he said. “When you’re a big playing in that dunker area you kind of find where you’ll be open, whether it’s the shovel pass, whether it’s a lob.”
But you won’t be hearing comparisons of teams, or personnel from Jordan when measuring his Brooklyn days to the opportunity he now has with the Lakers. He diplomatically navigated questions about his relationships with his Nets teammates – he was one of the original architects of Durant’s and Irving’s decision to team up in 2019 – and declined to take shots on the way out.
“We’re brothers beyond basketball so us being teammates or not isn’t going to reflect on or affect our relationship,” he said. “I have a ton of memories from the two years that I was there and I won’t forget those. But I’m definitely excited to start this next chapter.”
There’s a season ahead to get in his licks.