Clippers' Jordan center of attention
On the court, like all great shot-blockers, his timing is impeccable.
In traffic, in the post, in the open court, at its highest point or its lowest point. If you don't come correctly, Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan will block your shot.
Off the court, like all who carry around a few regrets, his timing has been horrible.
He graduated from high school the second year after the NBA's new age-limit rule went into effect, precluding him from entering the 2007 draft, where he potentially would have been a lottery pick.
He signed with Texas A&M just a few months before Billy Gillispie bolted to coach at Kentucky, and then clearly didn't fit in with new coach Mark Turgeon and played limited minutes in just 20 of the Aggies' games.
He entered the 2008 NBA draft in one of the deepest, most talented draft classes ever, helping fuel his fall into the second round and costing him millions of dollars.
And now, after a breakout third season, he'll hit free agency on the eve of what figures to be a titanic labor battle between the NBA owners and players' association that could reshape the NBA's collective bargaining agreement and dramatically alter player compensation.
Jordan laughed when his career was summed up in that way.
Then again, what else could he do, cry?
"It's cool," he said, as teammate and best friend Blake Griffin listened intently from a nearby locker. "I'm really trying not to think about [free agency], even though I kind of have to because it's coming up."
Teammate Chris Kaman just came right out and said it:
"I think he's going to do pretty well this summer when the free-agent market comes up," Kaman said. "I can see a lot of teams wanting to give him some money and trying to use him as a force for them defensively."
Although Jordan is still raw offensively, he's made enough of an evolution at the defensive end to make a big impression.
"Any team that needs a center will be interested," a front office source said. "New York, Houston, Miami, Boston, Cleveland. The question is who has the money to bid it up? New York."
