Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
Former Los Angeles Lakers center DeAndre Jordan removed stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis from his five best teammates of all time.
“4, I’m thinking about whether to go with Dirk (Nowitzki), Blake (Griffin), AD, Nikola (Jokic),” Jordan told the Knuckleheads podcast. “…I’m at the 5, Nikola is at the 4, KD (Kevin Durant) is at the 3, Kyrie (Irving) is at the 2, CP (Chris Paul) is at the point Guard your position.”
On October 17, Jordan played a wonderful game in a preseason game against his old team, the Los Angeles Clippers. In 21 minutes of playing time, he scored 8 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. But the Nuggets lost to the Clippers 116-103 behind Los Angeles star Paul George’s 23 points.
This is the 35-year-old big man’s 16th season in the NBA and second with the Nuggets. In the 2022-23 regular season, he played 39 games for the Denver Nuggets, averaging 5.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 0.6 blocks per game.
Jordan won a championship with the Nuggets last season but only appeared in four playoff games during the championship run. His most minutes in Denver’s playoffs were six, coming 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 contract this offseason.
The big man was in the prime of his career when he was a member of the Clippers. In the five seasons from 2012-13 to 2016-17, Jordan led the entire NBA in field goal percentage each season and twice led the league in rebounds per game.
Notably, he averaged 15.0 rebounds per game in the 2014-15 season, which was the second-highest rebound average of his career.
Since leaving the Clippers in the 2017-18 season, Jordan has played for different teams. He has also played for the Brooklyn Nets, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers.
Interestingly, Jordan chose Durant as his small forward instead of James. At the end of the day, it’s debatable whether Durant is better than the 19-time All-Star and four-time championship player.