DeAndre Jordan will be remembered as a Lob City Clipper, but Denver will always be a second home to him.
It’s the city where he spent his second-longest tenancy as an NBA player, measured both by years (three) and games played (131, plus 13 in the playoffs). It’s where he finally won a championship in his 15th season. It’s where received a tribute video and warm standing ovation Wednesday night.
He watched it from the other sideline.
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“Definitely some emotions for sure,” Jordan said Wednesday morning after finishing up a pregame shootaround with the visiting Pelicans. “Spent three years here. It was great. My teammates, coaches, everything. The fans were amazing. So it’s definitely some (emotions) running through (me) right now, coming here and seeing the locker room and the banner again. … I owe a lot to Denver.”
Jordan, 37, signed a veteran minimum contract with New Orleans last week after waiting out the offseason for an opportunity to stay in the NBA a little longer before retirement. In a stroke of fortuitous schedule alignment, his new team was Denver-bound five days later, facing a Nuggets squad that Jordan didn’t want to leave in the first place.
He’s one of 13 Nuggets to have played in at least 130 games this decade.
“Things change. They went in a different direction, which is totally fine,” he said. “I didn’t really know too much about the situation. But like I said, I’m grateful for my time here, which was amazing, and I’m definitely still rooting for these guys — somewhat. We’re all still really close. We talked a ton during the summer. We talk a lot. So that bond and those relationships can’t be broken.”
Under new front office leadership, the Nuggets prioritized a fresh complement of bench players this summer, including former Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas. Over the last few years, Jordan was often tasked with the thankless job of backing up three-time MVP Nikola Jokic. But he also doubled as a good-natured veteran presence in the locker room of a contending team. He says he’ll miss “the relationships I built” most.
“Obviously, we won a championship. We did a lot of great things in the postseason. But just some memories with the guys, teammates and coaches, that I’ll never forget. … Coming in and messing with the (social media and content staff) for pictures and stuff, and then coming in and speaking to all the workers here at Ball (Arena), and handshakes and routines I had with teammates and staff members.”
“Such a big part of what we were in that locker room, his personality, not just for the players but for the staff,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said after joking that Jordan’s three years in Denver felt like 30. “All-time vet. … I’m glad he’s back in the league.”
The Pelicans gave Jordan the start at Ball Arena, allowing him to take the floor with his friend Jokic and compete against him for the opening tip. First, he exchanged hugs with the Nuggets’ starters and received a kiss on the cheeks from Jokic.
Jordan has still kept tabs on the team, despite not being part of it anymore. He shared excitement for Denver’s reunion with Bruce Brown and shouted out, “the way that Jamal (Murray) is playing right out of the gate.”
Still, the NBA’s all-time leader in field goal percentage (thanks to his years of thunderous alley-oops and other dunks) went into Wednesday night’s game with targets in mind to put on a poster.
“Obviously, Jok. He’ll probably foul me before I get a chance to do that,” Jordan said, laughing. “I’m just hoping that he doesn’t try to dunk on me tonight. Because there will be a foul, and I don’t want a lot of aggressive mob Nuggets fans on me about that.”
Without the benefit of an NBA training camp and preseason to prepare for game action, Jordan has spent most of September and October working out, driving his children to and from school (his wife recently gave birth to their third), and waiting for a team to call. New Orleans was an ideal fit, between the shortage of frontcourt options and vets to mentor a relatively young roster. Not to mention that Pelicans coach Willie Green used to be Jordan’s teammate with the Clippers.
This is his seventh team since those glory days in Los Angeles. Perhaps none will be more sentimental to him than Denver.
“They’re gonna try to kick our (butt), and we’re trying to come out and get a dub,” he said before the game. “That’s the beauty of the game. You’ve got friends on the other side, and it’s a competition at the end of the day. This is going to be a little bit different, because I won a championship with this organization, with a lot of these guys over there.”
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