DeAndre Jordan's taken a lot of flak for reneging on a handshake agreement with the Dallas Mavericks to re-sign with the Clippers at the end of the NBA's free agency moratorium. The criticism has varied from justified to hysterical, but it's largely taken place without contributions from Jordan himself. This is that. In this Players' Tribune video, Jordan describes waking up that Monday and realizing things weren't quite right:
"I felt like I didn't give it all of my thought."
... and explains that, hey, athletes changes their minds, too:
"We're also human and we make mistakes and have emotions like everybody else."
Ultimately, Jordan's reasons for staying with Los Angeles are clear ...
"I've been with this team for seven years. One team for my entire career was definitely important to me. I've been here since I was 19, so this is what I know. I love the city, I love the fans, I love my teammates and I love this organization."
... but he knows his decision hurt some people:
"You wanna make the right decision but you also don't want to step on toes."
Mavs fans look down at their sore toes and shrug, but such is life.
It's also worth checking out the article that goes with this video, which includes some words about Jordan's relationship with Chris Paul, which was called into question throughout the season and during the period when everyone thought he was Dallas-bound:
I love Chris, man. Chris is a big brother to me. When you play sports, you're competitive -- especially when you play them at as high a level as we have these last few years. And of course, yeah, we all bump heads during the course of the game. But we know that whatever criticisms or arguments we have on the floor, they're about one thing: winning.
SB Nation presents: DeAndre Jordan's role in free agent movement