DeAndre Jordan explains decision to spurn Mavs for Clips: 'I struggled with it'

DeAndre Jordan has broken his silence, speaking out for the first time about his decision to re-sign with the Los Angeles Clippers after originally agreeing to a deal with the Dallas Mavericks.

In an article and accompanying video published to The Players' Tribune, Jordan spoke about waking up after agreeing to the deal with the Mavericks and feeling like something was missing, eventually leading to his change of heart.

"I feel like we've all made decisions in our lives where we've had second thoughts about things and have gone back and had to revisit a situation, and I definitely feel like this is one of those times for me," Jordan said.

The highly sought-after center found making a choice to be incredibly difficult, the enormity of the situation weighing on him. As the remaining time in the moratorium period ticked away, he had to make a decision that would leave some people upset.

As everyone knows, I struggled with it. It was nine or ten days of intense pressure. Every night I would have a different scenario in my head, of the city and team where I thought I would fit best. I had several meetings with teams and even more conversations with my family and friends. I kept thinking about what it really meant to be home and I would go back and forth.

As it turned out, it was the Mavericks and their fans who were left feeling blindsided by Jordan's about-face. Having to inform the franchise and its wild followers about his intention to stay in Los Angeles made the entire situation much more difficult, extending the insanity of the events.

"The most emotional part of the whole entire process was when I decided I was going to stay," Jordan said. "Because I knew I had to upset and let down a whole different fan base, and that got to me."

Jordan also touched on the reported issues between himself and point guard Chris Paul, saying that while the two have butted heads in the past - as any competitive players would - there are no problems within the relationship.

I love Chris, man. Chris is a big brother to me. When you play sports, you’re competitive - especially when you play them at as high a level as we have these last few years. And of course, yeah, we all bump heads during the course of the game. But we know that whatever criticisms or arguments we have on the floor, they’re about one thing: winning.

You can check out the entire video from Jordan below, and read his article on The Players' Tribune here.