Almost as soon as Jacque Vaughn became the interim head coach of the Brooklyn Nets in March, DeAndre Jordan slid into the starting lineup at the center position, bumping out Jarrett Allen.
In some ways, it wasn’t a surprise because of his ups and downs throughout 2019-20. At the same time, Allen was the starting center in 2018-19 and beat out Jordan for the job early in 2019-20.
Whether the move was right or wrong at the time, the young big man has moved on from that stage of last season.
“There was a lot going on at that time,” Allen said on a Zoom call with reporters Wednesday. “But I honestly saw it coming. There was a lot changing. I’m not holding a grudge against anything. It just happened. It was best for the team. And in the bubble, I wanted to show that I wanted to be a starter again, and that I was definitely capable of playing against playoff-level teams — against any competition.”
While Now Vaughn is back to being an assistant coach, DeAndre Jordan is ready to play alongside the guys who recruited him to play in Brooklyn, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
What does that mean for Allen?
“At this point, anything is in the air,” he said. “I haven’t been told what’s gonna happen. I haven’t been told what’s not gonna happen. So, what I’ve been told is just get my work in, try to improve my game as much as possible and get ready for the season coming up.”
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