DeAndre Jordan would be fantastic as a participant in All-Star weekend’s slam dunk contest. He’s a big man who also has tremendous leaping ability, and could be the next incarnation of Dwight Howard in terms of entertainment during the midseason exhibition.
The league recognized that fact by approaching Jordan about it before Friday’s game against the Knicks. The answer wasn’t necessarily no, but Jordan wants to be known as more than just a dunker, and is holding out hope that he might have to make the trip to New Orleans anyway as a member of the Western Conference All-Stars.
From Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times:DeAndre Jordan wants to be in the All-Star game as a participant, not just as a dunker.
So when NBA officials approached the Clippers’ center before Friday’s game about being in the dunk contest, Jordan told them what his true wish was.
“I just told them I wanted to see what happens,” Jordan said. “I’m not trying to disrespect them. But I want to be in the All-Star game as a player and not just as a dunker.”
If Jordan is firm in implying that he won’t enter the dunk contest unless he’s an All-Star, then we can essentially count him out for this season.
Jordan has been elite as a defender for the Clippers, and leads the league in rebounding while being in the top three in the category of blocked shots. But just as the West is very deep in terms of talented teams, the All-Star caliber players run deep, too. The coaches are likely looking at guys like Kevin love and LaMarcus Aldridge for two of the frontcourt reserve spots, and DeMarcus Cousins will be hard to ignore for what’s likely going to be the final All-Star nod for a big man in the conference.
Guards and wings are likely to make up the rest of the roster, but it’s not 100 percent guaranteed that’ll be the case. Jordan may have reason to hold out hope that his defensive effort has been noticed by the coaches in the West, and that an All-Star spot could potentially be in his future. The chances appear to be slim at this point, however, so we’ll have to wait and see if that means Jordan will skip out on the weekend’s festivities entirely, which would include the slam dunk contest.