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It hasn’t been going well for DeAndre Jordan in Philadelphia. Doc Rivers’ favorite pet project was getting lambasted by Sixers fans on Tuesday following a hard foul on Duane Washington Jr. It was ruled a flagrant 2 and earned Jordan a much-deserved ejection.
Prior to that, Jordan had six points and six rebounds in nine minutes. Those stats look good on paper but they were ugly minutes, filled with sloppy defense and wandering feet on offense. The one-time All-Star can’t get out of his own way, especially in pick-and-roll situations. Jordan was signed to fill the void left by Andre Drummond at the backup center spot. It’s not working.
“It’s funny, getting him, and honestly, I don’t know what DJ is gonna bring us,” Rivers said on March 4 after the Sixers inked Jordan, via Sixers Wire. “He hasn’t played a lot over the last couple of years, but I know he’s big. You’re either 7-feet tall or you’re not, and he is.”
Jordan is averaging 4.4 points and 5.4 rebounds in 12 games for the Sixers. Again, those numbers don’t appear bad until you watch him play. The 33-year-old has been the subject of much scorn from the Philly faithful, especially after Rivers benched him against Milwaukee. Now the cries to get rid of Jordan are reaching deafening tones following his antics versus Indiana. Maybe he should be permanently ejected.
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Sixers Twitter Sees Better Options Than Jordan
Twitter can be a terrible place when the Sixers lose. Turns out, it can be pretty bad for certain players following a blowout win. Jordan was Public Enemy No. 1 on Tuesday night, thanks to a “classless” flagrant 2 foul delivered with 9:19 left in regulation. And Sixers fans unloaded on the former Los Angeles Lakers big man.
Forbes’ Bryan Toporek pointed out that the Sixers are getting outscored by 4.1 points per 100 possessions when Jordan is in the game. The Athletic’s Rich Hofmann supplied a video clip showing how bad the “defensive communication” has been with him on the floor.
The options behind Jordan aren’t great: Paul Millsap, Paul Reed, or Charles Bassey. It might not matter with the way Joel Embiid has been playing down the stretch. He’s averaging 37 minutes per game over his last six games, and 33.7 minutes per game for the year.
Twitter user Gator joked that “the refs should give Deandre Jordan a flagrant 2 every game and we may never blow a lead again.” Meanwhile, Hoops Reference called Jordan “flat out garbage.” It might be time to reassign Bassey from the G League.
Teammates Love Jordan’s Veteran Leadership
One place where Jordan doesn’t seem to be feeling negative vibes is in the Sixers’ locker room. His new teammates love the veteran leadership and savvy awareness that DeAndre 3000 has brought to the team. Jordan has been getting rave reviews for bringing 12.7 minutes of “championship” energy per game.
“One big word: leadership,” Tobias Harris said of Jordan, via The Philadelphia Inquirer. “He’s always pushing us. He understands that you only get so many chances at getting a championship, so he’s fully all-in. His leadership is huge. Everyone on the team will say it. Just one of the best locker-room guys in the league.”
Harris and Jordan were teammates for one season together for the Los Angeles Clippers. Rivers was the coach of that 2017-18 team that finished 10th in the Western Conference.
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