DeAndre Jordan-Dallas Rejection is Different to Billy Donovan, Orlando Magic
Except for the last few hours or so, the 2015 NBA Free Agency period was largely predictable and short of few surprises.
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That all changed when free agent DeAndre Jordan suddenly reneged on his verbal agreement to join the Dallas Mavericks and return to the Los Angeles Clippers according Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojanrowski.
Long story short, Twitter went crazy, Mark Cuban was upset and now Jordan looks like a coward who refused to answer Cuban’s flurry of phone calls and texts.
May 17, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6) dunks the ball during the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets in game seven of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. The Rockets defeated the Clippers 113-100 to win the series 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
The whole situation bears a striking resemblance to former Gators coach Billy Donavan’s initial flirtation of leaving Gainesville in 2007.
The drama began after Florida won its second consecutive national championship, where Donovan was linked to several potential NBA coaching positions, specifically the Orlando Magic.
After firing former head coach Brian Hill, the Magic reached out to Donovan and offered him the position.
The Orlando Sentinel’s Brian Schmitz reported at the time that the contract was for five years, $27.5 million.
Donovan eventually accepted the deal and it seemed like that was the end of Donovan at Florida. The Gators were even preparing a list of candidates to succeed Donovan, even reaching out to former assistant Anthony Grant, who now is on Donovan’s staff at Oklahoma City.
The Magic held a press conference for Donovan’s introduction to the media on June 1, 2007 but immediately the very next day, Donovan got cold feet.
ESPN reported that Donovan called Florida’s Jermey Foley and told him that he already regretted his decision and wanted to come back to UF, which sounds eerily similar to ESPN’s report that Jordan called the Clippers brass and wanted to return to LA.
As we all remember, Orlando was pretty peeved about the entire situation but they eventually allowed Donovan out of his contract, agreeing that he could not coach in the NBA for the next five years.
Donovan returned to Gainesville for the next seven years, before ultimately leaving for good to accept the Oklahoma City Thunder position this past April.
Related: Billy Donovan brings in big-time coaching talent to OKC
Both Donovan and Jordan had agreed to contracts of sorts with their new respective teams.
Donovan caught grief and ridicule for his decision to back out of a deal after signing a contract with the Magic that no one forced him to sign; Jordan is feeling the same brunt of that backlash now too.
The problem is that when it came time to express his indecision on his pending 4-year, $88 million contract with the Mavs, Jordan backed away into a corner and hid
The main difference between the two is the way Donovan and Jordan handled their uncertainty about leaving their teams.
By all accounts, Donovan felt truly remorseful about leading the Magic along into thinking he was truly comfortable being their next head coach.
He apologized and owned up to “his mistake” as he put it in a 2007 press conference in Gainesville.
In all likelihood, Jordan feels the exact same way about stringing the Dallas Mavericks along as well.
The problem is that when it came time to express his indecision on his pending 4-year, $88 million contract with the Mavs, he backed away into a corner and hid.
Rather than expressly telling Mark Cuban that he made a mistake and won’t be signing with Dallas, he literally hid in his own home surrounded by Clippers players and executives.
So far, Clippers able to keep everyone else out of house, including Cuban, agents. Everyone. They're in four-corners until midnight Eastern.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 9, 2015
He literally ignored any communication and contact that Cuban tried to initiate, according to a Dallas News report.
That’s what separates what Billy Donovan did, to DeAndre Jordan’s ditching of the Mavericks at the altar.
Donovan owned up to his indecision and his mistake and made no excuses for it.
Jordan so far has taken the easy way out, the coward’s way out of an awkward situation that in all honesty, is something he brought entirely on himself.
What do you think? Does DeAndre Jordan spurning of the Mavericks compare to Billy Donovan’s indecision with the Magic? We want to hear from you!