LAS VEGAS – “So, what are your thoughts on DeAndre Jordan now?”
“Who?” Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told Yahoo Sports.
“DeAndre Jordan … now?”
“It’s over. You move on. [Expletive] happens,” Cuban said.
Cuban and the Mavericks were stunned last week when they leaned that Jordan reneged on a four-year, $80 million contract agreement and instead re-signed with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Jordan apologized via Twitter on Friday, but not face to face or over the phone.
Cuban talked to Yahoo Sports about the Jordan dilemma on Saturday at the Las Vegas summer league and how it affected his franchise without saying the name of the center who spurned him.
Q: Do you need a face-to-face apology from [DeAndre] Jordan?
Cuban: Why would I care? That’s it. Who were you talking about?
Q: Have you talked to Mavs star Dirk Nowitzki of late and discussed Jordan?
Cuban: I talk to Dirk all the time. Dirk has been around 18 years. He’s seen everything. This is a business. Life goes on. There is no point now in people providing any energy or thought about something when you don’t even remember their name. So it’s just done. It’s not a big deal anymore. It’s done.
Q: The Mavericks did sign free-agent guard Wesley Matthews and made a trade after the Jordan deal fell through for veteran center Zaza Pachulia. Deron Williams is expected to sign with Dallas, too. How do you think Dallas has done with the players they’ve acquired?
Cuban: I can’t talk about [Williams, whose deal with the Mavericks was not officially signed before the interview]. But when something happens you just move on. Guys get hurt. Guys change their mind. Whatever. Look I made and lost a lot of billion-dollar deals. This is just another day at the office.
Q: Where do the Mavericks go from here?
Cuban: People forget we added Wes Matthews. We added a great piece. In a lot of respects we’ve improved our team. We’re looking at shot-blocking centers. We added Zaza. He’s a great pick-and-pop player. He will be able to help us there. We will look for some other pieces. We will continue to improve. We’re adding pieces that can be around for a few years and that’s the key. We see Wes as a long-term part of our future. That was a huge add for us. Now with him and Chandler [Parsons], maybe some other pieces we will add, [rookie] Justin Anderson … things change in a blink of an eye in the Western Conference. We will see what happens.
Q: If everything falls in to place, can Dallas still be a playoff team next season?
Cuban: Of course. Every year that Dirk has been asked they are questioning him. Every year we managed. We’ve never lost more than 40 games. We will figure something out. We’re resourceful.
- Mark Cuban
- DeAndre Jordan
- Dallas Mavericks
- Dirk Nowitzki
- the Mavericks
