Kevin Garnett Has Found the Perfect Pupil in Trash-Talking DeAndre Jordan
LOS ANGELES — DeAndre Jordan doesn't miss much on the defensive end—not a dribbler attacking the rim, not a cutter looking for a lob and definitely not a Los Angeles Clippers teammate slipping on an assignment.
If you let a guy drive by you or don't rotate to Jordan's man when he steps up to help you, "DJ's going to let you know about it, for sure," Austin Rivers said, "and you'll be better for it."
And if you are there in time? If you do your job? Well, don't expect a cookie from Jordan, unless Doc Rivers brings over the jar.
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During the Clippers' 98-86 win over the Miami Heat on Jan. 8, the Clippers head coach insisted Jordan thank J.J. Redick for having his back when boxing out Hassan Whiteside.
"DJ, he was there, so tell him 'Thank you,'" Rivers instructed. "TELL HIM!"
So Jordan obliged.
"I blew him a kiss," he said. "I think he realized I was thankful for that."
"He only points out the times you don't do it," Redick said, "so Doc wanted some acknowledgement, I guess."
It's a small but important step in Jordan's ongoing evolution. Already the lynchpin in the Clippers' sixth-ranked defense and one of the league's most feared enforcers, he's now learning the finer points of harnessing his voice as a leader.
Talking has always come easily for Jordan, but it was from watching and playing against Kevin Garnett that he learned how to channel his voice on the defensive end.
"He's one of the main reasons I talk so much and talk so loud on the court when I'm out there," Jordan said.
Now, rather than getting worked over by the trash-talking Big Ticket, Jordan gets to work with him. The Clippers brought Garnett to training camp in Irvine, California, back in October but only recently hired him as a consultant, with the aim of having him offer his closest counsel to L.A's big men.
So far, Jordan has been Garnett's most eager pupil. Before the Clippers' practice Tuesday—Garnett's first appearance at the team's facility in any official capacity—Jordan could be seen working one-on-one with the future Hall of Famer.
"Whenever he's here, he's going to get tired of me," Jordan quipped.
In some respects, Jordan and Garnett are already kindred spirits. The Clippers center tied his new mentor for ninth all time in 20-rebound games with 20 boards against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, then passed him on Saturday with 21 more at the Los Angeles Lakers' expense on Saturday.
But their bond goes beyond big rebounding numbers in record books.
"They both have a great amount of intensity that they bring to the game," Doc Rivers said. He coached Garnett for six seasons in Boston and empowered Jordan to be a defensive leader upon arrival in L.A. three-and-a-half years ago. In Garnett, Rivers sees a perfect example for Jordan to follow both on and off the court.
"Kevin had the best habits on off days and every day that I had seen," he said. "I think that can transfer over."
When it comes to holding his teammates accountable on the defensive end, Jordan is already consistent.
"I can't say what he says," Austin Rivers said, "but he gets on me."
Those "jolly cuss words," as Rivers referred to them, flowed more freely in the month-and-a-half following the Clippers' suffocating start. Since Nov. 24, L.A. has allowed its opponents to shoot 55.7 percent at the rim—the league's fifth-worst mark during that span, per NBA.com.
That's not all on Jordan. For all he shares with Stretch Armstrong, he can't be everywhere at once, even less so when he has to step up to contest forays into his territory.
Jordan is never shy to share his frustrations on the court.
"When you have a team like that where you can get on each other and still just move on, I think that's the next step we're making as a team that's going to make us a whole lot better," Raymond Felton said.
The Clippers wouldn't mind if Jordan picked up a few offensive tricks from Garnett, too. A sharper free-throw stroke would be nice (Jordan's up to 52 percent from the line this season). So would a few more tricks in the low post (he works on those before every game with Clippers player-skills development intern Chad Bell).
At 6'11" with a 7'6" wingspan and a vertical leap of more than 30 inches, Jordan's arguably the best lob target in the league on offense and one of the most effective paint protectors on defense.
On a team with Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, J.J. Redick and Jamal Crawford, Jordan's primary job isn't to score but rather to stop L.A.'s foes from doing the same—with his arms, legs and vocal chords.
To that end, Jordan doesn't need a wholesale reinvention.
"First-team All-NBA and first-team All-Defense," Paul said. "That says enough in itself."
"I think for people looking on the outside in, DJ is just like a physical specimen, like a crazy athlete," Austin Rivers said. "I don't think they understand the knowledge he has on the defensive end."
And, more importantly, how he spreads that knowledge.
"He's always letting you know screens are coming," Felton said. "He's always letting you know that you're by yourself, you're on your own, let's you know what the plays are. He's always talking, man. That's really big."
Clippers Insider's Notebook
Mo Charges
Jordan's backup at center has his own approach to protecting the rim. Rather than try to meet attackers at the apex, Marreese Speights has gotten in the habit of drawing charges.
"He takes pride in that," Austin Rivers said. "He talks about that all the time in the locker room. He'll be like, 'I'm leading the league in charges. You know that, right?'"
Indeed, according to NBA.com, Speights' 20 charges are tops.
"He has great anticipation. He's not afraid to risk his body," fellow Clippers reserve Jamal Crawford said. "He's always out there in the right place. So I think for us, it gives us the confidence that if somebody gets to the hole, he'll be right there."
Not that L.A. always wants Speights giving himself up that way.
"Sometimes he'll take a charge when he shouldn't take a charge," Rivers said. "It's like, 'Mo, what are you doing?' He'll be like, 'I'm the league leader.' Can't say nothing to him after he does that."
And the Clippers cannot expect all their bigs to take that kind of beating.
"That's a long way for me to fall," Jordan said. "I don't like doing that, so I'd rather just contest the shot. Mo's very good at it. He knows how to fall. I can't do that."
More Milestones For CP3
Chris Paul can't help but keep climbing ladders. Now halfway through his 12th NBA campaign, he seems to move up one rung or another by the week.
In his first game back from a hamstring injury, Paul hopped over Isiah Thomas into 15th place on the league's all-time steals list. Then, he dished to Luc Mbah a Moute for a dunk over Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins to slide past Rod Strickland into the top 10 in career assists.
Two nights later, he logged his 8,000th assist, making him the third-fastest ever to register that many helpers and 15,000 points, behind only Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson.
"He's one of the greatest to ever play the game. I don't even think people appreciate it a lot, but he is," Doc Rivers said. "You recognize that. I did from afar when I was in Boston, and then coaching him, you realize just how clever and smart he is, besides just his play."
"I think sometimes he gets overlooked a little bit in the top point guard discussion in today's NBA," Redick said, "but he's still at the top of his game to me and still as good as anybody."
Paul, though, isn't one to dwell on what it means to be mentioned among the game's legends.
"It means I've been playing a while," he said.
Fees For T's
The Clippers have gone three games without a player or coach getting whistled for a technical foul. For most teams, that's par for the course.
For an L.A. team with its bad habit of yapping at referees, it qualifies as news.
This downturn, though, has been no happy accident. Before the Clippers' win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Jan. 4, Doc Rivers announced that anyone who draws a tech—himself included—must make a donation to charity.
"That wasn't an input decision," he said. "That was a decision made by me that had to be made by me."
Where Rivers—who's been ejected three times already this season—has afforded everyone some leeway is in the destination of those donations. He's chosen to send his to the Violence Intervention Program in Los Angeles.
So far, the new rules seem to be paying off, albeit not to charities. Austin Rivers, who's racked up four technicals in 2016-17, has already vowed not to add any more to his tally. Only one Clipper—DeAndre Jordan—has been T'd up since L.A.'s head coach implemented the penalty.
Doc Rivers, though, isn't ready to declare victory over his team's ugliest habit just yet.
"I'm not going to get too far ahead of myself," he said. "They've been great so far...I hope it continues. I think it's going to take a while before the officials see that we are changed people."
Sick Clips
The injury bug isn't the only pest that's infiltrated the Clippers locker room of late. One by one, players, coaches and front-office personnel have battled through flu-like symptoms.
According to Felton, the plague began with Wesley Johnson before he caught it during the holidays. Since then, both Riverses have come down with it.
"My sister's sick too," Austin Rivers said. "Stay away from the Rivers family, if anything."
The illness forced Doc away from practice Tuesday—the first time in his coaching career that's happened, according to his own accounting.
Whether the Clippers' mini-epidemic stems from the same source that's struck Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler and Giannis Antetokounmpo (among others) is unknown. But in a league where packed travel schedules are the norm, viral outbreaks are almost bound to happen.
"You're on and off planes, you're in and out of hotels," Felton said. "You're just being exposed to a lot of germs each and every time. It happens."
All quotes obtained firsthand. All stats via NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
Josh Martin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and listen to his Hollywood Hoops podcast with B/R Lakers lead writer Eric Pincus.
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