NBA Rumors: Los Angeles Clippers Deny DeAndre Jordan Deal Modus; Jorden Receive Same Offer From Miami Heat, Lakers

Aug 27, 2015 09:03 AM EDT

DeAndre Jordan has been one of the most highly controversial free agents in the NBA offseason. In between the time the NBA star spent in choosing which group would suit him the most, a number of NBA teams including the Miami Heat, Los Angeles Laker, Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers, made him offers.

At the end of the day, DeAndre narrowed down his options into two potential choices.

On the one hand, Jordan could choose to re-sign with the Los Angeles Clippers and once again play alongside Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, Jamal Crawford and Paul Pierce. On the other hand was a new team, the Dallas Mavericks, which had him pegged as someone who wanted to be the face of the NBA team and offered just that to the Clippers star. The months of June and July saw the tension brewing between the Clippers and the Dallas Mavericks execs with regard the stiff competition to sign DeAndre Jordan.

After meeting with the Clippers first, DeAndre went on to hear out the offer of the Mavericks. Taking into consideration both offers of the NBA teams vying for his attention, DeAndre Jordan chose the Dallas Mavericks over the Clippers. The victory of theMavericks in signing Jordan had been short lived though, as the NBA star then changed his mind and announced that the Clippers is the better team for him - a move that had the basketball community criticizing him and his indecisive nature.

Just when the issue between the Mavericks and DeAndre started to wind down and be completely forgotten by the NBA community, the Clippers now find themselves in the middle of yet another controversy.

According to Los Angeles Times, the Clippers have been meted out a fine worth $250,000 by the NBA following the results of the investigation which revealed that the NBA team violated long established league rules with respect the signing of players. The said violation occurred during the decision making stage of DeAndre Jordan last month which saw the NBA star eventually signing up with the Clippers. In an effort to allegedly circumvent the salary cap imposed by the NBA, the Clippers improperly involved a third-party in the deal which offered DeAndre an endorsement opportunity.

As per the NBA rules, this type of deals is strictly prohibited. The practice of providing or offering an NBA player an endorsement deal or other forms of compensation is against the league rules unless the said arrangement is included in the terms of the collective bargaining agreement signed by the athlete and the NBA team.

In an internal memo issued by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, which was obtained by the Orange County Register, he addressed the NBA's decision and allegations thrown at the NBA team of DeAndre.

"As I shared with everyone on day one of purchasing the Team, being part of the Clippers family means operating with the highest integrity," wrote the Clippers owner in part. Ballmer added, "We believed we were doing this the right way, and any circumvention was inadvertent. In our effort to support our players in every way possible, we as an organization must be diligent in complying with the CBA."

The results of the NBA investigation disclosed that the decision of Jordan to re-sign with the Clippers and drop the Mavericks had no connection with the third-party endorsement deals offered to him last month.