Wound, meet salt.
While the Mavericks overachieved just to make a cameo appearance in this year’s NBA Playoffs, the player they courted last summer has been voted the best at his position.
Yep, DeAndre Jordan is still haunting Dallas.
Jordan, who reneged an agreement to sign with the Mavs last summer, was voted First-Team All-NBA last week as the best center in the game. He was joined on the prestigious first team by the giants of the game: Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James.
Jordan averaged a career-high 12.7 points, 13.8 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in helping the Clippers to another 50-win season. Mostly on an array of alley-oop dunks, his field-goal percentage of 70.3 was a whopping eight percentage points better than second-best.
Without Jordan the Mavs scrambled to fill their void at center with a patchwork quilt that included Zaza Pachulia, Javale McGee and Salah Mejri. Jordan’s coronation was more proof that the Mavs were courting the right guy. And more pain in that they ultimately didn’t land him.
A native Texan who was born in Duncanville and graduated from UT-Arlington, Richie Whitt has been a mainstay in the Metroplex media since 1986. He’s held prominent roles on all media platforms including newspaper (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), radio (105.3 The Fan) and TV (co-host on TXA 21 and numerous guest appearances, including NBC 5). He lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.
