Reneging on a verbal agreement with 56-year-old NBA Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, 26-year-old free agent Deandre Jordan found himself caught in a media firestorm. When he shocked the Clippers July 3 agreeing verbally to a four-year $80 million max deal with the Mavericks, rumors flew about why the Clippers; star big man would leave Los Angeles. Rumored to have a dicey relationship with intense 30-year-old Clippers’ point guard Chris Paul, nothing made sense why Jordan would forfeit about $10 million to play for the Mavs. Clippers’ owner Steve Balmer has all the resources and doesn’t like getting beat out by Mavs’ owner Mark Cuban When the Clippers’ lost three straight to the Houseton Rockets and blew out of the second round of the playoffs May 17, the mood turned foul for the whole team, especially young players like Jordan heading into Free Agency.
With the team stunned by the Rockets, it no doubt entered into Jordan’s ambivalence about returning to the Clippers. Reading the tea leaves, Mavs’ owner Cuban put on the full court press, knowing he should strike while the iron was hot, more precisely, Jordan’s bad mood after losing to Houston. After beating San Antonio May 3, considered by many the top seed in the Western Conference, the Clippers—especially Jordan—were flying high. Jordan averaged over 15 rebounds per game in the San Antonio series, taking out the defending NBA champs seven games when Chris Paul finished them off with a dramatic game-winner. Heading into the second round, the Clippers oozed confidence, going up on the Rockets three-to-one, in what looked like a cakewalk to the Western Conference Finals. Losing three straight to the Rockets sent Clipper Nation, including Jordan, into a tailspin.
Watching the full-throttle Golden State Warriors battle LeBron James’ hobbled Cleveland Cavaliers made Jordan’s free agency even more confusing, still reeling from the loss to Houston. Cuban picked up on the NBA’s best rim protecter and rebounder, making him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Cuban is to the NBA what Donald Trump is to New York real estate, one of the most persuasive salesmen to ever hit the NBA. When Cuban met with Jordan and his agent Dan Fegan July 3, it was a slam-dunk for Cuban to sign Jordan, at least verbally. However Fegan’s close ties to Cuban affected the deal is anyone’s guess. Media reports indicate Cuban and Fegan are tight. Fegan overplayed his hand pushing his impressionable client into the NBA’s best salesman, apparently closing Jordan July 3. It took a few days for Jordan to get buyer’s remorse, ultimately changing his mind July 8.
It’s easy to deny that young, or even older, athletes aren’t influenced by their agents, coaches, general managers and the media’s vast array of sports’ pundits. After Jordan called Clippers’ coach Rivers July 7 to tell him he’d made a mistake committing to Dallas, Rivers led team-Clippers, including, owner Steve Balmer, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and J.J. Reddick, to Jordan’s Houston home. With rumors flying in the press about Jordan changing his mind, Cuban tried feverishly to contact Jordan. “I don’t think the time is right to say anything beyond the facts that he never responded to me at all yesterday,” Cuban wrote on his Cyber Dust messaging app. “Not once. To this minute, I have not heard anything from him since Tuesday night,” causing NBA pundits and fans to go wild about Jordan’s ethics, especially the last minute snub where he didn’t return Cuban’s calls.
Most folks think that Jordan should have manned up and at least called Cuban to inform him of his change of heart. “We all walk into these conversations understanding that as with any business contract, it’s not a deal until the paper is signed,” said NBA Players Assn. spokeswoman Tara Grecco, excusing Jordan for changing his mind. Meeting in Las Vegas, the NBA expects to discuss verbal agreements and whether or not anything in league rules need to be changed. Before league officials decide to make any changes, they need to consider that players, when confronted with highly influential agents and owners, need a right-of-rescission, whether or not they’ve committed orally or in writing. Buyer’s remorse is a natural part of the sales transactions, requiring rules to allow players to change their minds, even after signing preliminary agreements or final written contracts.
Clippers’ personnel, led by Rivers and Balmer, did the right thing going to Jordan’s Houston home to give the star center the best shot at getting things right. Expecting young players to always get it right when influenced by powerful agents, NBA owners or other front office personnel, is unrealistic. Instead of railing against Jordan for changing his mind on an oral agreement, the league should put rules in place to give all athletes the right of rescission to protect against buyers remorse. If they do it in the real estate and car business, the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement should give players the necessary grace period to get things right. Jordan didn’t respond to Cuban’s last-ditch calls because he didn’t want to deal with the same person that closed him out on a max-deal July 3. Jordan didn’t do anything wrong changing his mind. League rules should cut players more slack.
