“What the hell’s going on out here”

Amid reports of a comical hostage situation in the Houston area one must remember that you can’t rape the willing.  Superstar free agent DeAndre Jordan was a willing participant in the hilarity that ensued Wednesday which saw the league benefit on the social media circuit in a way that the NFL, MLB nor NHL could even fathom.  The furor of the day even included a mini NBA emoji war on Twitter; again the hilarity was at it’s best which even included an appearance of the following:

🍌🚤

— Chris Paul (@CP3) July 8, 2015

Just days ago Jordan verbally agreed to join the Dallas Mavericks via NBA Free Agency.  The deal would have been 4 years in length and valued at upwards of $80 million but with hours to spare before the contract could have become official the Los Angeles Clippers made a last ditch effort to retain the services of Jordan who at the end of the day just wanted to feel wanted and in a sense coddled.  Owner Steve Ballmer, Team President and head coach Doc Rivers along with Chris Paul and the newly acquired Paul Pierce converged on Houston, Texas to help change the mind of Jordan who’s uncertainty of joining the Mavericks grew in the prior 24 hours.  Chris Paul was emotional at the short meeting held by the Clippers contingent and Jordan with Paul stating the following:

“I had no idea you felt that negatively about me. I thought we were brothers.”

With his mind finally made up, Jordan returns to the Clippers and did not field calls from anyone associated with the Mavericks.  With the Clippers contingent by his side reports reflected that Jordan’s agent was being locked out of his home as well. Has a hostage situation ever gone over so smoothly?  The house guests were reportedly playing cards and video games and even had food ordered by Jordan’s mother……mission accomplished.

Home is where your ❤ is. #WelcomeHomeDJ pic.twitter.com/Ov0RoRKMDL

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) July 9, 2015

Jordan’s deal with the Clippers will be fours years in length.  The new deal will have a player option for Jordan after year 3.  Not bad for a guy with a career average of 8 points and 9 rebounds per game alongside of 1.7 blocks.  With that being said, some facets of the game can’t be measured and Jordan is an unbelievable specimen, one that yearns that have a larger role in the offense, one who in part threatened to leave in the first place to be the proverbial “Man” in Dallas which he can never be in Los Angeles.  Prior to Wednesday’s events it was reported that during the free agent courting process Jordan was impressed that Dirk Nowitzki left a vacation early to help recruit him to Dallas but Paul did not interrupt his down time in the Bahamas alongside of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwyane Wade, three of the 4 gleefully riding a banana boat.

It’s a rarity when someone who has the stature and clout of one Mark Cuban doesn’t get their guy but here he was trumped.  Many will attack Jordan’s decision to back out of his agreement but right or wrong he was within his right to do so and in a sense that’s why the NBA’s moratorium is in place.  Despite the ugliness of the situation it has happened in the past, the most recent being Hedo Turkolgu spurning the Portland Trail Blazers for the Toronto Raptors during the off-season of 2009, hindsight is indeed 20/20. Look for calls of the NBA’s free agent moratorium to be changed which could or could not happen.  In the grand scheme of things the Clippers had one damn job to do this off-season and despite almost losing their prized possession of the moment, they rebounded.  The Mavericks however are left in a bit of a state of confusion.  Despite the departure of Jordan, one can’t miss what you never truly had.  Wesley Matthews is still a win and now armed with an unexpected $20 million of cap space, the Mavericks can begin picking up the pieces after the DeAndre Jordan free agent disaster.

I thought I had a good pump fake.

— Chandler Parsons (@ChandlerParsons) July 9, 2015