When the Brooklyn Nets signed DeAndre Jordan as the third piece that came with the acquisition of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the starting center position instantly became a point of concern. Jarrett Allen had started 80 games in 2018-19, and he was only 21 years old, while Jordan had been a starter in the league since 2010-11.
But both players said the right things and went about their business. Given Jordan’s pregame routine included freshening up Allen’s afro before the young center went out for the opening tip, it seemed like the veteran had taken to his role.
As time progress, Jordan started cutting deeply into Allen’s minutes. The former was outplaying the latter, so it made sense. However, Shams Charania and Alex Schiffer’s report for The Athletic indicates Jordan wasn’t satisfied with an increase in minutes:
During the blowout loss to Memphis, Jordan had verbally expressed his frustrations to Atkinson and the coaching staff about the team’s rotation, encapsulating the season-long tension that evolved from the head coach bringing Jordan off the bench, sources said.
Furthermore, the report indicates Jordan was under the impression he’d be “the full-time starting center after he, Durant and Irving joined” the Nets:
When Atkinson made Jarrett Allen the starting center this season, it changed the dynamics.
In his first game as Brooklyn’s head coach — only two days after Atkinson’s exit — Jacque Vaughn inserted Jordan into the starting lineup.
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