Former Los Angeles Lakers center DeAndre Jordan left stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis off his starting five of his best teammates ever.
“4, I’m trying to decide if I wanna go Dirk [Nowitzki], Blake [Griffin], A.D., Nikola [Jokic],” Jordan told the Knuckleheads podcast. “… Imma go me at the 5, Nikola at the 4, K.D. (Kevin Durant) at the 3, Kyrie [Irving] at the 2 and C.P. (Chris Paul) at the point.”
Jordan had himself a great preseason game against his former team — the Los Angeles Clippers — back on Oct. 17. In 21 minutes of playing time, he racked up eight points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals. But the Nuggets lost to the Clippers 116-103 behind a 23-point performance from Los Angeles star wing Paul George.
The 35-year-old big man is in his 16th season in the NBA and second with the Nuggets franchise. He averaged 5.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 0.6 blocks per game in 39 appearances with Denver during the 2022-23 regular season.
Jordan won a title with the Nuggets last season but appeared in just four playoff games during their championship run. The most minutes he logged in a playoff game for Denver was six, and that was in Game 1 of the team’s first-round series against Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Nuggets re-signed the center to a one-year deal in the offseason.
The big man was in his prime of his career when he was a member of the Clippers franchise. During a five-season span from the 2012-13 season through the 2016-17 season, Jordan led the entire NBA in field-goal percentage every season and led the league in rebounds per game twice.
Notably, he pulled down 15.0 rebounds per game in the 2014-15 season, the second-highest average of his pro career.
Jordan has bounced around from team to team since departing the Clippers after the 2017-18 season, as he has played for the Brooklyn Nets, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers too.
It’s interesting that Jordan chose Durant as his small forward instead of James. Ultimately, it’s arguable whether Durant has ever been a better player than the 19-time All-Star and four-time champion.
