Did you catch this report from New York Times NBA writer Marc Stein?
That would be something to say the least, given what went down the last time DeAndre Jordan and the Dallas Mavericks were in the same sentence back in 2015.
Three years ago, the center had agreed to sign with the Mavericks, but members of the Lob City version of the Los Angeles Clippers reportedly flew to Houston to change his mind. Mavs owner Mark Cuban was apparently in town too.
And it blew up Twitter with the greatest emoji war the Internet had ever seen.
It started innocently enough with an airplane emoji from Chandler Parsons, who it turned out wasn’t tweeting about going to Houston.
Then-Clippers Blake Griffin and J.J. Redick jumped in:
Chris Paul joked about the famous banana boat photo:
Paul Pierce had the best response, a (deliberate?) gaffe in which he posted a photo instead of an emoji:
Other NBA teams, players and TNT jumped in to make fun of the whole thing:
That was all fine and funny and whatnot … except then we all found out that a whole mess of Clips personnel WAS ACTUALLY IN THE HOUSE WITH HIM. From USA TODAY Sports:
Hours later, Jordan – according to a person with knowledge of the situation – indicated to the Clippers that he intends to re-sign with them when the free agency moratorium lifts at 12:01 a.m. ET Thursday. The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation. ESPN.com first reported Jordan’s intentions to return.
The scene at Jordan’s home turned surreal in the wake of that revelation, as Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, coach and president of basketball operations Doc Rivers, forward Blake Griffin, point guard Chris Paul, shooting guard J.J. Redick, and small forward Paul Pierce all gathered at the meeting to inspire this DeAndre double back and later stayed by his side at his home as the clock kept ticking. The Mavericks have been attempting to get another meeting with Jordan as well, but it appears all but impossible considering the company he’s keeping.
Griffin tweeted a photo of the door to Jordan’s house that had been barricaded using a chair:
One of the best sequences in NBA social media ended with Jordan staying with the Clips:
And now it’s possible Cuban could trade for Jordan? Who’d have thunk it after all that went down in 2015?