No matter how you slice it, DeAndre Jordan has had a fascinating career with many twists and turns. It’s hard to believe that he’s 33 years old when most memories of Jordan flying through the air and dunking on defenders do not seem that far removed. He has quite a few accolades to his name, including being named to the All-Star team, and making the All-NBA team three times in his career.
Jordan has not been at that level for a few years now, but teams still respect his size and experience. He has most recently joined the Philadelphia 76ers and will serve as a capable backup to MVP candidate Joel Embiid. He is also familiar with Philadelphia head coach Doc Rivers from their days together with the Los Angeles Clippers.
DeAndre Jordan – Childhood
Hyland DeAndre Jordan Jr. was born to parents Kimberley and Hyland Jordan. Jordan was conceived and grew up in Houston, Texas, and had three other brothers. DeAndre recalls a mischievous childhood with his siblings, often pranking each other, and appreciates how much his mother cared for the boys despite their wonky ways.
DeAndre Jordan – High School
Jordan was always bigger than his classmates growing up, but early on, that did not lead to a lot of success at sports as a kid. He was often picked on by other students for having the profile of someone who should be a great athlete but fell short of expectations.
However, that narrative would change as he entered high school. Jordan attended Episcopal High School in the Bellaire area of Houston. He had a pretty impressive high school basketball career, serving as a force on the glass and challenging shots. As a junior, Jordan averaged 16.5 points per game, 14 rebounds per game, and seven blocks per game. Chances are if plays were being made in the paint, Jordan was the one who was delivering.
However, he took his game to another level in his senior year, when he transferred to Christian Life Center Academy. Even though he only played one season there, he would eventually have his jersey retired by the school, because Jordan posted absurd averages of 26.1 points, 15.2 rebounds, and 8.1 blocks. His performance garnered him a spot on the first team of the All-Greater Houston squad. The high school career Jordan had set him up very nicely to have a laundry list of colleges to pick from.
DeAndre Jordan – College
There wasn’t a school in the country that couldn’t use an incredible physical specimen like Jordan. Many programs were sniffing around the Houston area center, and a lot of SEC and Big 12 schools were poking around on the recruiting trail. Jordan ended up committing to the Texas A&M Aggies and appeared in 35 games for them in his freshman season.
He was a raw prospect, and his numbers told a story of a player who had a lot of room for improvement. Jordan averaged nearly eight points a game, with six rebounds and a block. He also averaged 20 minutes per game, as head coach Mark Turgeon appeared reticent to let him loose with more consistent upperclassmen on the team. Jordan actually was recruited by head coach Billy Gillespie, who left the program before the young center ever had a chance to play for him. It is possible Turgeon was not as invested, for that reason.
DeAndre Jordan – Los Angeles Clippers
The former Christian Center prospect would only end up playing one season in college before entering his name in the 2008 NBA Draft. Jordan was profiled as one of the ultimate low floor, high ceiling players. His athletic profile left little doubt that he could compete with grown men in the NBA, but other talents such as polish around the rim and attention to detail were unknowns heading into the draft.
As it turned out, the Los Angeles Clippers would end up taking a flyer on the former Aggie in the second round, with the 35th overall pick. Jordan’s arrival coincided with the franchise squarely in rebuilding mode, which allowed the coaching staff to let the young center get his feet wet in his first two seasons. Although used somewhat lightly from a minutes perspective, Jordan appeared in 70 games in year two, and really started to produce in the last ten games of that campaign.
The 2010-2011 campaign was when the next era of Clippers basketball would truly begin. Los Angeles would be adding a healthy Blake Griffin into the mix, who with Jordan, would form one of the most athletic frontcourts in recent NBA history. It didn’t matter that he was a poor free-throw shooter; Jordan’s defensive play would end up erasing a lot of mistakes on the perimeter. Somewhat miraculously, he hit his only career three-pointer early in a game against the Dallas Mavericks in 2015. He was also the league’s rebounding leader for two consecutive seasons later in his career.
Griffin and Jordan’s basketball lives would change forever the following year, for the better. Every team benefits from having a skilled point guard to orchestrate the offense, but Los Angeles acquired the premier one in the NBA in Chris Paul. It didn’t take long for the “Lob City” alley-oops to get underway, as Paul would set up his rim runners for ferocious finishes at the basket. Jordan’s career may not have truly taken off without the presence of Paul, whom he played with for six years.
Has DeAndre Jordan made it to the All-Star Game?
In addition to his powerful dunks, Jordan also endeared himself with the fans during All-Star weekend festivities. In the 2017 Slam Dunk contest, he grabbed a basketball off of DJ Khaled’s hands and threw it down. He was also an NBA All-Star that year, appearing in the big game the next night.
Jordan was also involved in one of the most hilarious commercials in basketball history. He donned a wig in a 2015 State Farm ad, playing the mother in a family which included Chris Paul and Damian Lillard. Jordan infamously screamed “We’ve Been Robbed!”, when he claimed that his ring was stolen from their house.
DeAndre Jordan – Dallas Mavericks
Jordan’s tenure with the Clippers ended after the 2017-2018 season, and he ended up signing with the Dallas Mavericks. However, the athletic center could have been a Maverick a couple of years earlier. One of the most famous free agent stories in NBA history involved Chris Paul showing up at his house, and Jordan officially re-signed with Los Angeles after he had already agreed to join Dallas.
As it turned out, his time in Dallas was short-lived, as the organization sent him to New York in Kristaps Porzingis trade.
DeAndre Jordan – New York Knicks
Compared to the amount of time Jordan spent with the Knicks, his stint with the Mavericks might as well have been an eternity. He appeared in 19 games for New York to close out the 2018-2019 season and averaged a double-double in the process.
DeAndre Jordan – Brooklyn Nets
Heading into another offseason as a free agent, Jordan’s name was linked to the biggest fish of that year’s free-agent class. There were rumors that he, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Durant were looking to team up together on their next team, and that’s exactly what ended up happening. Jordan went from playing in Manhattan with the Knicks to Brooklyn with the Nets.
While he seemed slightly diminished, Jordan still brought a strong rebounding presence in his two years with the Nets. However, his athleticism waned, as Brooklyn mulled whether to give players like Jarrett Allen and Nicolas Claxton more playing time in the frontcourt.
DeAndre Jordan – Los Angeles Lakers
The hope for Jordan was that he could finally win an elusive ring with the Nets, but that did not end up happening. As a result, he entered last summer with the same goal in mind; trying to position himself to win a championship.
There is arguably no better current player to hitch your wagon to towards that end than LeBron James, so the veteran signed on with the Los Angeles Lakers. However, the organization opted to waive him on March 1, 2022, in order to create a roster spot to sign D.J. Augustin.
DeAndre Jordan – Philadelphia 76ers
Jordan was free to sign with whomever he wanted again, and it was sure to be with a team he felt comfortable with. Whoever was at the head coaching position might have been a huge factor in where he ended up, and it just so happened Doc Rivers needed another big man in Philadelphia after Andre Drummond was sent to Brooklyn in the James Harden trade. The former Texas A&M prospect doesn’t figure to play many minutes behind Joel Embiid but should provide leadership on the bench and in the locker room.
DeAndre Jordan – NBA Future
He holds the NBA record for career field goal percentage as of February 2022, a record that will be hard for anyone to break considering how many dunks Jordan had in his career. He’s not going to get many more chances to increase or decrease that figure, given that his presence on the court will be very strictly limited to setting screens and boxing out on the offensive end.
He’s bounced around the league in the last few years, and he might only have a couple of years left in the NBA. It seems like he is accepting of a greatly reduced role in order to fill the only major hole in his professional resume.
Has DeAndre Jordan ever made a 3?
He hit only one three-pointer during his career tying the record of the likes of Shaq.
Where did DeAndre Jordan go to high school?
Jordan attended Episcopal High School through his junior year, where he achieved impressive averages of 15.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, and 4.0 blocks as a sophomore and 16.5 points, 14.0 rebounds, and 7.0 blocks as a junior. He then transferred to Christian Life Center Academy for his senior year, where he upped his game even further, averaging 26.1 points, 15.2 rebounds, and 8.1 blocks per game.
