DeAndre Jordan's Playful Side as Vital to Clippers as It Was Infuriating to Mavs

LOS ANGELES — Now that the wild DeAndre Jordan recommitment ceremony is over—Mark Cuban not having the expected epilogue to his How to Win at the Sport of Business book and Chandler Parsons jilted late to the point he's set up to be the next Bachelor—we have to take a closer look at the man in the middle of this.

Jordan, 26, was already known as a man-child, consistently the player in the Los Angeles Clippers locker room most likely to goof around with teammates' young sons. Yet this was nth-degree indecision, a stunning inability to handle business responsibly. It was extreme even for someone whose basic thing is to have fun and please people.

How you feel about Jordan reneging on his verbal commitment to the Dallas Mavericks to re-sign with the Clippers, though, actually tells you a lot about yourself.

Is it anyone's prerogative to change his mind, understandably caught up in the excitement of being the man for the Mavs before seeing the bigger picture again?

Is it reprehensible to go back on one's word in a business decision of league-wide import—after five days, no less—and thus a final testament that Jordan simply isn't mature enough to be trusted with anything serious?

We all have our personal inclinations, patterned by our experiences to believe we can jaywalk in front of honking cars or we should color within the lines. Jordan's uncertain week of self-indulgence is excusable or not based on our personal perceptions.

What matters now is that the week is over, and Jordan has signed back with the Clippers.

His beef with Chris Paul was real, no matter how Paul tried to downplay it with an Instagram post late Wednesday night, and Jordan's waffling with this only serves to validate how he's the fun-loving, genetically gifted freak whom the hard-driving, responsible Paul finds hard to respect.

Chris absolutely has a Cliff Paul side to him that thinks things should be done properly, and Jordan grew tired of feeling like he was the clown to the prince.

Paul is the serious sort who works for every edge he can; Jordan is the goof who makes friends fast but is now being mocked by millions of fans for freezing worse than at the free-throw line when he was asked to choose the course of his life.   

They are so very different, in body size and frame of mind. Jordan resorted last season to stomping his foot on the floor to get Paul's attention, a literal representation of Jordan's childishness and frustration.

But now that they've proved that their dissimilarities aren't so vast as to keep them apart, the challenge is to make the most of being together.

That means, quite simply, appreciating that opposites can and do attract in this world.

Jordan's zest for life and joy for the game can and should add something special to the team. It should make Paul and others ease off, breathe and smile at junctures when the point guard might be apt to suffocate the season.

And, obviously, Paul's determination and responsibility must continue to be a force that moves the team as a whole and Jordan as an individual forward to accomplish more.

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Their respective basketball brilliances, along with Blake Griffin's, ensure that the Clippers will win plenty. For this all to come together into a championship mix, however, the foundation must transcend shared experience.

There has to be real mutual respect—true acknowledgment and appreciation for the different angles and opinions that others bring to the group.

It is possible, even if Paul and Jordan (and Griffin) don't always see eye-to-eye…even if Jordan has just proved that he'll never be responsible enough to organize a rec-league softball team.

Jordan is not alone in his strange place. Plenty of uncommonly tall or athletic kids have had most of their decisions in life made for them and struggle now as adults. Plenty of fun people aren't cut out to take things too seriously—and even marry less fun, more serious people to complement them.

Don't forget it wasn't long ago that Dwight Howard's desire to stay in Orlando shifted depending on how humid he found that day's air. Howard, like Jordan, is represented by strong-willed agent Dan Fegan.

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Fegan's friendship with Cuban is no secret in NBA circles, to the point that the Los Angeles Lakers spent many a night fretting that Howard would leave them in 2013 free agency for Cuban's Mavericks.

Howard ultimately chose the Houston Rockets. But whether it was Fegan's powerful influence or Cuban's sales pitch, Jordan was moved to choose Dallas.

And then he was moved to stand up for himself and make a bold change back.

Perhaps that was indeed proof Jordan is unsure of himself, having to be babysat in his own home to prevent being duped again by Cuban and Parsons.

But maybe it was a step in the right direction for Jordan, who missed the mentorship of Doc Rivers. Jordan knows how wrong it felt when Billy Gillispie recruited him to Texas A&M but bolted before Jordan even got there.

This just might be Jordan putting his agent and his emotions aside and taking ownership of what's most important. After all, Jordan wears No. 6 out of reverence for Bill Russell.

Such respect for this championship window would be something for Paul inherently to respect.

Besides, I'm guessing that at some point Wednesday night at Jordan's house in Houston, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer got so crazily, relentlessly excited about this positive turn of events that Jordan made eye contact with Paul and chuckled over how emotionally unchecked that guy is compared to us normal people.

Paul already had let loose and joined the fun of the Twitter emoji parade earlier Wednesday.

As nuts as the whole day and turnabout were, it's clear that Jordan simply felt right enough about the Clippers that he had to go back on his word.

The straight-arrow rules followers out there no doubt will conclude this irresponsible Jordan is a joke.

But after what wasn't that long of an absence, all hearts on the Clippers' side have assuredly grown fonder of their light-hearted man in the middle.

Kevin Ding covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @KevinDing.