It's the perfect mental image: Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban driving frantically around Houston late at night while sending pleading texts for the home address of DeAndre Jordan, in a desperate panic to reach the star free-agent before he goes back on their deal and signs a new contract with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Except that maybe it didn't happen at all.
Now Cuban is royally pissed off at the ESPN reporter who tweeted this alleged tidbit, offering just the latest farcical twist in the saga of Jordan's free agency.
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If you're just catching up: Jordan is a center who was one of the prize catches of this year's NBA free-agent class. He's played his entire career for the Los Angeles Clippers, but was reported to have agreed on terms to sign with the Dallas Mavericks once midnight Thursday came around -- and free-agents were allowed to sign paperwork.
But Jordan apparently had a change of heart, prompting a mad scramble by the Clippers and Mavs to get to his house in Houston and convince him to join their respective teams. This race against time sparked the greatest emoji war in NBA history -- then only got weirder from there.
As Wednesday night wore on and midnight approached, reports said a Clippers war party had visited Jordan at his Houston home and convinced him to return -- but that they were staying with him, in his house, until he did sign just to make sure no one from the Mavericks could sway him the other way.
Many a meme made its way to the web, especially after Clippers star Blake Griffin posted this hilarious tweet trolling Cuban and Dallas fans.
Don't agree with the furniture layout but I'm not an interior designer. pic.twitter.com/23PNgQB88z— Blake Griffin (@blakegriffin32) July 9, 2015
But we reached peak hilarity when ESPN reporter Chris Broussard tweeted out this purported detail to his million-plus followers. It's totally believable, on a certain level, given Cuban's manic intensity -- but is it true?
Sources: Cuban is beside himself. Driving around downtown Dallas begging (thru texts) Jordan's family for address to DeAndre's home— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) July 9, 2015
CORRECTION: Sources: Cuban beside himself. Driving around downtown HOUSTON begging (thru texts) Jordan's family 4 address to DeAndre's home— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) July 9, 2015
Jordan did indeed re-sign with L.A. shortly after midnight. Cuban addressed Mavericks fans, saying that Jordan ignored his communication efforts, and promised to share more details later. (Cuban shared with Mavs fans via an app of his called Cyber Dust, even managing to start another fight in the process.)
But he saved his real rage for Broussard, calling the reporter's purported scoop "the dumbest shit I've ever heard."
.@Chris_Broussard that's is the dumbest shit Ive ever heard. If you had any ethics u would msg me and I will give u his address— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) July 9, 2015
Oh my! Broussard stood by his sources -- kind of -- but Cuban did not retreat.
@Chris_Broussard post what you have. I have the facts you got lied to— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) July 9, 2015
Then Cuban laid down a gauntlet that, at time of this writing, Broussard had yet to respond to.
@Chris_Broussard how about this. You post any proof I was calling/texting his friends asking anything I give 100k to charity of yr choice.— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) July 9, 2015
This is, of course, not the first time Broussard's reporting has been questioned. It's also not the first time he's had perhaps a strange definition of "sources."
So as much as we'd love to believe Cuban was careening in a panic around Houston trying to find Jordan's house -- boom-box at the ready to hold up outside his window -- Broussard's "sources" at this point just don't carry a whole lot of weight.