Did DeAndre Jordan Leave The Clippers Because Of Chris Paul

DeAndre Jordan is heading to he Dallas Mavericks and there are rumors that a rift between he and Chris Paul could be what nudged him out the door. 

Via ESPN

The core of the team had been together for more than three years, and tempers were wearing thin. Jordan and Chris Paul had gotten into it more than once, which led Jordan to start seriously contemplating what it might be like to play elsewhere in 2015-16.

He was tired of Paul’s constant barking and petty gestures, like distributing high-fives to the three other guys on the floor following a timeout but somehow freezing out Jordan. Optics aside, the biggest issue for Jordan was that, despite the leaps and bounds he made to be named first team all-defense, the Clippers always treated him like the player he was when he arrived in the NBA, and never like the player he’d become.

When Jordan arrived in Los Angeles, he was the consummate “project” big man, regarded as a slow learner with confidence issues to boot. During those first couple of seasons, the Clippers made more outgoing calls than incoming ones on Jordan, who saw little playing time.

The article also says that once DeAndre Jordan became a free agent, Chris Paul didn’t make much of an effort to reach out and persuade  him to stay in LA. “Paul made only half-hearted attempts to reach out to Jordan late in the process, according to sources close to the situation. At a certain point, the balance of affection tipped, and there weren’t enough dinners at Katsuya or testimonials to Jordan about how much he’d flourished under Rivers’ development to keep Jordan in Los Angeles.”