[ad_1]
Once upon a time, DeAndre Jordan was so desired in Brooklyn, his two superstar teammates suffered a pay cut just so he could be a part of the squad.
It’s barely two years since Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving made room under the Brooklyn Nets’ salary cap, and yet it seems like an eternity: Since then, Jordan has played two relatively pedestrian seasons (relative to his prime. All-Star) for the Nets in which all the stars were rarely healthy at once. Last month he was traded and bought back when it was felt his contract had far exceeded production.
Not only will Jordan not see Durant, Irving or James Harden (who will be resting) on the pitch on Sunday when the Lakers kick off the preseason against the Nets, he won’t be around to see what many expect. be the season when the pieces could finally come together in Brooklyn. But even though he was once considered a centerpiece of this puzzle, Jordan, 33, says there is no bitterness involved.
“No, I don’t care,” he said after Saturday practice. “I have a lot of love for these guys over there. So I don’t think of ‘Oh, I should have stayed’. I don’t think about that. I think about where I am now and I think about it. focus here with this group of guys.
All things considered, you could say that Jordan is thrilled to have left one competitor to join another. For one of the first times in his career, the minutes and role of Jordan are a bit muddled: the Lakers have postulated that Anthony Davis will play more center this season, and while Dwight Howard is older (35) than Jordan, he also returns with more experience of Frank Vogel’s defensive system.
While Jordan wrote optimistic reviews for his form coming into training camp, there is no guarantee that he will be a big factor in the rotation.
And yet, he seems at peace with this uncertainty. Jordan said: “Father’s time is undefeated.”
That’s not to say Jordan won’t be a factor, however. He won reps as a starting center alongside Davis. Even though he cannot offer the floor space the Lakers had last year with Marc Gasol – Jordan casually joked that he would do so despite only 12 career 3-point attempts – his presence on the rim could help provide an outlet for Davis from the dunker point.
Vogel has spoken of the team’s understanding of having to sacrifice roles and minutes for the greater goal of winning – and so far Jordan has accepted that.
“DJ has only shown a first class attitude for everything we try to do,” said Vogel. “And I think he’s on board with everyone, whatever the team’s needs are, that’s what he’s going to be on board with.”
In practice, Jordan has said that he and Howard – two of the league’s best defensive centers at the start of the previous decade – have sharpened each other with their physique.
When asked if he enjoys fighting with Howard, Jordan was adamant, “Hell yeah! He’s still a force there, able to block and change shots and just be an executioner on both sides.
Howard and Jordan know what it’s like to be star centers in another era of the NBA. Howard is the league’s best active rebounder (14,271); Jordan is second (9,878). Howard is the active leader of the blocks (2,192); Jordan is fourth (1,467). Jordan is the NBA field goal career percentage leader (67.4); Howard is seventh (58.6).
While Jordan has never won the Defensive Player of the Year award like Howard has done three times, he has been honored twice in the NBA’s All-Defense First Team.
Howard knows as well as anyone that it can be difficult to go from a star big man to a support player. But he and Jordan, he said, will encourage each other to check their egos at the door.
“We all solidified with individual goals,” he said. “We’ve done everything there is to do as individuals throughout our careers. Now it’s a matter of bringing that talent together and moving towards our common goal, which is a championship. ”
[ad_2]
Source link