Paul Pierce’s First “Funny” Encounter With 6’11 NBA All-Star Proved His Love for Clippers; Stopping Teammate’s Move to Mavericks

Paul Pierce tweeted a screenshot of a rocket ship emoji instead of the emoji to send an important message to the Clippers fanbase but it ended up being one of the funniest tweets of all time. The “Lob Angeles” signed Paul Pierce on a three-year, $10.6-million contract in 2015 thus allowing him to finish his career near his Inglewood home. Yet there was another agenda that ‘The Truth’ and his new teammates had was to persuade the 6’11 NBA All-Star to re-sign with the Clippers.

On Podcast P with Paul George, DeAndre Jordan shared the first interaction he had with Paul Pierce. Before the interaction, there was already a verbal agreement that the center had reached with the Dallas Mavericks. Mark Cuban the majority owner back then wanted to sign DJ and pair him up with a franchise legend. Dirk Nowitzki and Co. won the title the previous year and wanted to retain it once again and signing Jordan would have helped them in that pursuit.

Jordan said it was his first time meeting Paul Pierce. However, Pierce knew about the “Dallas Fiasco”. “Trying to get your big a** to stay.” -the first sentence that the former NBA champion said to DJ. He said on Podcast P with Paul George, ” Man, what you doing? Where you going? Where you going to Dallas?” The line of questioning stumped Jordan, and he recalled the funny interaction. 

It was not only funny but a heartfelt moment for the 35-year-old. Paul Pierce carried a legacy with him. He had won the championships and won the MVP finals yet he showed support for Jordan in his first interaction. This was something that meant a lot to the current Nuggets star.

The members of the Clippers staff had Jordan under house arrest because they were not going to lose their player after “Lob City” success. The situation arose because the Mavs were pretty confident about signing the Center. One of the all-time funniest moments of NBA Twitter took place. When the Clippers players tweeted about their travel plans, Texas helped convince him to stay.

Paul Pierce’s Clippers squad narrates their version

Initially, Jordan verbally agreed to a reported four-year, $80 million contract with the Dallas Mavericks. But, a week later, he considered returning to the Clippers and his teammates made sure he stayed firm on that decision. Blake Griffin and JJ Reddick sat down to discuss the events that led to that epic night. “I think that was the most fun, I guess I am biased because I was involved, but that was probably one of the most fun days on NBA Twitter,” said Griffin on Sep 10, 2021. JJ Reddick recalled the story too.

“The whole thing about it was, Blake had dinner with DJ the night before and I had talked to Blake that morning and I was the first one at the hotel. We all met at the four seasons and Blake was like, ‘no yeah, he’s coming back. It’s done. He just wants everybody to show up for him,'” said Reddick on his The Old Man and The Three podcast.

Griffin, Reddick, and Paul Pierce expressed their love for DeAndre Jordan, which he did not expect from the newest member of the squad Pierce. Thus, he re-signed with the franchise. Jordan apologized on 11th July 2015 via X to the Dallas Mavericks and praised Mark Cuban as one of the most amazing owners. Jordan would eventually get his move done to the Mavs in 2018. But that would be a short stay as he only played 50 games for the franchise.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.