DeAndre Jordan Does Not Belong on the NBA First Team
Yesterday the NBA released their all NBA teams. The teams were pretty much what we all expected. The first team had LeBron, Russell Westbrook, Steph Curry, Kawhi Leonard and DeAndre Jordan. The second team had Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Damien Lillard, Boogie Cousins and Chris Paul. The third, and final team, had Klay Thompson, LaMarcus Aldridge, Paul George, Andre Drummond and Kyle Lowry.
They got it right for the most part.
As far as snubs go, maybe flip Durant and Westbrook, but I don't think it really matters, they are both great and they both deserve a spot. Anthony Davis was hurt, but when he was in there, he was great, and he lost 24 million dollars by not making the team. If Kyle Lowry made all NBA, I think DeMar DeRozan deserved equal consideration. Other than that, they got everything right except for one humongous, glaring, gaping hole on that first team.
How on Earth does a player like DeAndre Jordan make first team all NBA? He shouldn't be on any of these all NBA teams. All he is good for is rebounding and dunking. His defense isn't anywhere near elite. His offense is a joke. His free throw shooting is even worse. His demeanor on the court is garbage. He carries himself so poorly. He isn't even the best player on his team. He isn't even the second best player on his team. When you look at the other first team players, those players were the best players on their team this year, and yes, Westbrook was better all year than Durant, that is a fact. DeAndre Jordan is way behind Chris Paul, and even though he is an abusive man child that whines and complains and blames everything on everyone else and never comes up big when the Clippers need him most, Blake Griffin is still better than DeAndre Jordan. Hell, guys like Paul Pierce, Jamal Crawford, and at times, even Jeff Green were more crucial to the Clippers than DeAndre Jordan.
DeAndre Jordan is a problem for this Clippers team. He cannot be counted on late in games because his low post game is non existent and his free throw shooting is the worst that I have ever seen. He is worse than Drummond. Hell, he is a worse free throw shooter than Rajon Rando, and Rajon Rando is a garbage free throw shooter. His defense is not nearly as threatening as it was a year or two ago. People attacked him way more this year and would score or draw fouls on him more often than him getting a block or altering the shot. And on offense, unless it is a lob from Chris Paul for an alley oop, he is completely useless. He is a poor screener. He rolls away from the rim way too often on pick and rolls. He cannot move in the low post. He can't shoot free throws, so he obviously is no threat to shoot jumpers. When he gets the ball in the high post, he is so quick to give it up for fear of getting fouled, or having the ball stolen from him. He is a problem on this Clippers team when they have to run half court offense.
With all those problems, the people that vote on all NBA put DeAndre Jordan on the first team. What a joke. Why was he even considered? Is it the LA thing? Since the Lakers are a dumpster fire, do the writers, most of whom live in LA, feel like they need to have someone, no matter how crappy they are, from an LA team be on the all NBA first team? That's not fair. With DeAndre Jordan being first team all NBA, I'm surprised these dip shit voters didn't put Kobe Bryant on any of the all NBA teams. Then, to vote DeAndre Jordan over guys like Boogie Cousins, LMA, Andre Drummond, what a crock and slap in their faces. LaMarcus Aldridge completely overhauled his game to fit in with the Spurs, and they were a great regular season team, due to him and Kawhi Leonard. LMA definitely deserved that spot more than Jordan. While Andre Drummond is an equally terrible free throw shooter, he is a much better rebounder, defender, low post threat and teammate than Jordan will ever be. I'd take Andre Drummond 10 times out of 10 before I'd take Jordan if I were starting a team and I had to pic between the two of them for my center spot. Then there's Boogie Cousins. While he may be uncoachable and a very tough player to play with, Cousins is the best center in the NBA. He has all the tools that the old time centers had and he can also run and shoot the way the newer bigs can. Boogie Cousins is a tremendous talent that deserves that first team spot so much more than DeAndre Jordan. Cousins is a better rebounder, defender, and is so far ahead of Jordan on offense, it is almost laughable that he didn't get the first team spot. If I were Boogie Cousins I'd take this very personal and go at DeAndre Jordan every shot I get for the rest of my NBA career. Then there are guys that didn't make any all NBA teams that I would take well before I take Jordan. I'd take Anthony Davis, Steven Adams, Serge Ibaka, Bismak Biyombo, Al Horford, Paul Millsap and many more centers and power forwards before I'd even consider DeAndre Jordan.
The love for Jordan needs to stop and stop now. He is a very marginal NBA center. If he did not have Chris Paul throwing him passes, he may be out of the league, that is how overrated I truly think DeAndre Jordan is. The voters got this one terribly wrong. I don't think anyone could pose an argument that would sway me on this. This is a joke and this proves how useless and pointless all these all NBA teams are. Who in the hell cares, all the fans know who are the best players in the league, and Deandre Jordan is not one of the top five. He isn't even one of the top 25 players in the league. What a crock is truly is that he made first team all NBA. He should be getting rewarded for his mediocre play all season. This was a huge mistake.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He looks forward to the day when NBA writers value the players skill more than their geographical location. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.