Blake Griffin Explains DeAndre Jordan's Free-Agency Decision in Players' Tribune

Blake Griffin can't speak directly for DeAndre Jordan, but he can at least help explain his own feelings and reactions regarding Jordan's decision to re-sign with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Jordan penned his own piece on The Players' Tribune explaining why he stayed with the Clippers—he never wanted to leave Los Angeles and had second thoughts after initially leaning toward signing with the Dallas Mavericks. Griffin wrote that he could sense Jordan's indecision:

"

By Tuesday morning, I knew he was really struggling with it. He really didn't want to disappoint people, but I could tell his heart wasn't in it. We text every day. It's not always about basketball. Mostly it's about life. I'm his friend above all else. I stuffed some clothes into a bag, ran through LAX and got on the first flight to Houston. My intention wasn’t to go down and sell DeAndre on the Clippers. We promised each other a long time ago that we’d never do that stuff. I just wanted to be there for my friend and hear him out.

[...]

DeAndre just wanted to clear the air and talk with everybody — which is something we should have done a month ago, but that’s life. Sometimes you don’t say what should be said.

"

Griffin added that the much-discussed "kidnapping" of Jordan by Clippers players and front-office personnel was nothing more than an innocuous get-together among close friends:

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To be honest, the whole thing was pretty boring. It was like a super laid back family party. Some people were watching TV. Some people were playing video games. After a while, I hopped in the car and drove aimlessly around Houston for an hour just to kill time. When I got back to the house, we were sitting around waiting for 11 p.m. so DeAndre could officially sign.

"

Grantland's Andrew Sharp also highlighted an entertaining passage in which Griffin provided a handy advertisement for Raising Cane's:

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Important message from Blake Griffin, please share pic.twitter.com/GK031QYzfR

— Andrew Sharp (@andrewsharp) July 21, 2015"

Although it was entertaining constantly checking Twitter to read the latest development about what was apparently going on inside Jordan's house, you knew the reality couldn't possibly live up to the narrative.

The simple fact is, Jordan wanted to re-sign with the Clippers and have his teammates and coaches around when he put pen to paper.

Anybody associated with the Dallas Mavericks has every right to feel Jordan handled the situation poorly, because he did. But both his and Griffin's Players Tribune pieces provide whatever closure remained about the whole saga.

It's about time everybody finally moved on, at least until the regular season when the Mavs can get their revenge on Jordan on the court.