Parsons slams 'scared' Jordan, says 'he wasn't ready to be a franchise player'
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On Wednesday night, as the chances of the Dallas Mavericks signing DeAndre Jordan wilted away, the Mavs' lead recruiter, Chandler Parsons, tweeted out a light shot about a pump fake.
A day later, as fallout from the Jordan fiasco settled, Parsons was a little less humorous.
"He wasn’t ready for being a franchise player. He was scared," Parsons said of Jordan to ESPN's Tim MacMahon. "He was scared to take the next step in his career ... how you make a business decision like that is beyond me. How you ignore an owner like Mark (Cuban) who is in your hometown just waiting for a chance to talk to you is beyond me."
Parsons is referring to the Mavericks owner's calls being ignored by Jordan on Wednesday night, as the center was holed up in his Houston house with Los Angeles Clippers teammates.
"Be a professional. Pick up the phone," Parsons added. "If you're not going to meet with him, pick up the phone and tell the guy that you're committed to what you're feeling, what you're going through and maybe he can talk it out and help you. But do not ignore the guy. Do not make him sit there and sweat it out. That's just very unprofessional. I can't get over that part."
Parsons said that Jordan told him he wanted to get away from being a third wheel with the Clippers and become a leading man.
"He's very comfortable in L.A. He can play behind Chris Paul, play behind Blake Griffin. That's what I thought he didn't want," Parsons told MacMahon. "Throughout the process, that's what he told me he didn't want. He wanted to take the next step in his career. He wanted to be the man on his team and build something special."
For all the rancor, Parsons said he still considers Jordan a friend – although a sour taste will linger.
"I'll still be friends with him, but I can't get over the way that he's put our entire franchise in jeopardy," Parsons added, referring to the fact that no impact free agents remain on the market.
"It's normal to get cold feet. It's normal to get second thoughts, but you don’t back out of a commitment of this much magnitude this late in the game and just leave us high and dry ... He put our team in jeopardy. Everything we've done this summer has been surrounded by him, and then at the last second, he's going to do that. That's what I'm upset with."
The Clippers' first game in Dallas next season ought to be interesting, to say the least.