On the fifth anniversary of LeBron James’ “The Decision” TV special, another waiting game has erupted for a choice by an NBA free agent.
Just when we thought the Dallas Mavericks were all locked in with DeAndre Jordan, word rapidly spread that the center agreed to a second meeting with the Clippers in Houston. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, head coach Doc Rivers, Blake Griffin, J.J. Reddick, Paul Pierce and Chris Paul – leaving his vacation get away with LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade _ to try to convince DeAndre to stay with the Clippers.
While free agency began on July 1st, teams can’t actually sign the players until a week later, on July 9th. Word quickly spread that the Clippers were bringing in the reinforcements in an attempt to woo Jordan back to the fold. And that’s when the emoji war broke out.
It started with a tweet from Mavs’ Chandler Parsons. He was a guy said to be instrumental in recruiting DeAndre to Dallas. His emoji-filled tweet was a signal that he too was headed to Houston to remind DeAndre about the benefits of playing with the Mavericks.
✈️
— Chandler Parsons (@ChandlerParsons) July 8, 2015
Mark Cuban was also said to be heading to H-town for a second meeting with Jordan.
Then came a flurry of other emoji tweets from more Clippers players.
✈️🚁🚙
— Blake Griffin (@blakegriffin32) July 8, 2015
CP3 used his tweet to reference his vacation where he was photographed on a banana boat with Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade and LeBron.
🍌🚤
— Chris Paul (@CP3) July 8, 2015
Melo opted to skip that ride.
The off-season fun continues for LeBron, CP3 and D-Wade… (via @SplashNews) pic.twitter.com/CRtIDe6YzU
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) July 8, 2015
But back to the emoji game. Ok so next Paul Pierce dropped off some of that old man emoji game. And by that I mean he clearly googled clip art or something to put into his tweet. That ain’t no emoji…
— Paul Pierce (@paulpierce34) July 8, 2015
JJ Reddick lives in Austin during the offseason, he reportedly drove to Houston for the meeting.
🚙
— JJ Redick (@JJRedick) July 8, 2015
Even the Warriors and Cavaliers jumped in:
🐸☕️
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) July 8, 2015
🏆
— Golden St. Warriors (@warriors) July 8, 2015
Kobe too:
Emoji battle?
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) July 8, 2015
And then the Jordan brand jumped in to follow up Kobe’s tweet:
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
— Jordan (@Jumpman23) July 8, 2015
🐐
— Jordan (@Jumpman23) July 8, 2015
Per ESPN’s Michael Eaves, DeAndre’s family wanted him to stay in LA but felt his agent Dan Fegan was pushing Jordan to sign with the Mavs. Fegan is also Chandler Parson’s agent. As previously mentioned, Parsons went hard in the paint for the Mavs, reportedly taking DeAndre to dinner several times and giving DeAndre the reassurance he allegedly was seeking from his Clippers teammates.
DeAndre originally agreed to a five-year $80 million deal with the Mavericks. The Clippers can offer Jordan an additional year which adds another $29 million to his deal. His desire to leave the franchise reportedly had to do with his relationship with teammate Chris Paul.
