{"id":1801,"date":"2016-10-23T18:13:58","date_gmt":"2016-10-23T22:13:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/?p=1801"},"modified":"2016-10-23T18:13:58","modified_gmt":"2016-10-23T22:13:58","slug":"eric-gordons-shot-at-redemption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2016\/10\/23\/eric-gordons-shot-at-redemption\/","title":{"rendered":"Eric Gordon’s Shot at Redemption"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jerry Seinfeld<\/strong> has a great take-down of the <\/span>American sports fan\u2019s ethos<\/span><\/a>. Our allegiance to professional athletes requires them to wear the jersey and logo of our liking. To jump off Seinfeld’s point, it’s funny that – even as grown men – we choose the clothes over the bros. Most times, what\u2019s on the front of the jersey dictates either one of two extremes: love and hate (for lack of a better phrase). The fact that, in many cases, it can be one or the other, is really quite unfortunate. Or even worse, it can be pretty much all hate. That’s when fun and games can become toxic.\u00a0It\u2019s fine to root for your team, but it\u2019s not fine to excuse a fundamental lack of respect for an athlete because he doesn\u2019t play for your team. Eric Gordon<\/a><\/strong> survived the toxicity, and Eric Gordon’s shot at redemption comes this season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eric Gordon’s Shot at Redemption<\/strong><\/h2>\n

We should all be rooting for Eric Gordon this season, just out of respect for him. He deserves a chance to make good on a once-promising NBA<\/strong> career. (How can you not root for a guy who’s an unabashed Scooby Doo<\/em><\/strong> fan and is nicknamed “The Hobbit,” right?)\u00a0There is a sect of fans that’s probably too far gone to see these things from a more humanist perspective than from that of a sports analyst, and that’s too bad. That’s not to say that everybody should stop rooting for their team. Rather, it’s merely to suggest we can\u00a0root for our team and still see athletes as human beings. You know, keep things in their proper context. So let\u2019s examine the trials and tribulations of one <\/span>Eric Gordon\u00a0with that in mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the World was His<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As the reigning “Mr. Basketball” in Indiana, Gordon chose to stay\u00a0close to home and play college ball at Indiana University<\/strong> (he was born in Indianapolis<\/strong><\/a>). Choosing where to play in college would prove to be the last time he would have the ability to make such a decision for a very long time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, in Gordon\u2019s case, one could assume that if asked when basketball was the most fun for him, he\u2019d say playing in college without hesitation. During his stay, Gordon was one of the best players in the nation, and was Indiana\u2019s “big man on campus”. His efforts were enough to make him the seventh overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft<\/strong>, taken by the Los Angeles Clippers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Early\u00a0Days in the NBA<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One of the consequences of the draft is that it puts <\/span>players in situations that aren\u2019t well-suited for them<\/span><\/a>. Which is to say: a\u00a0perfect match of player and situation is rare. Gordon was no exception. For his first two years, the Clippers were the stereotypical Clippers – the doormat of the NBA\u2019s Western Conference<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In each of his first three seasons, Gordon\u2019s scoring increased. The numbers he put up during the 2010-11 season in per-game averages of points (22.3), assists (4.4), and rebounds (2.9) all remain career highs. He was 22 years old that season. It would have been safe to assume that he was going to get better. He didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Likewise, the Clippers’ win total went up in each of those years – going from 19 to 29 to 32. But Eric Gordon’s shot to see the light at the end of the tunnel in Los Angeles was eclipsed in the form of the Chris Paul<\/a><\/strong> trade.<\/p>\n

“Lob City” Came at a Cost<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Teams have to give up something to get something. When the Clippers acquired Chris Paul from the New Orleans Pelicans<\/strong>, it came at the cost of Eric Gordon (among other assets). In the video of\u00a0DeAndre Jordan<\/a><\/strong> and Blake Griffin<\/a><\/strong> declaring the inception of \u201cLob City,\u201d it would stand to guess that Gordon was in the vicinity of his teammates \u2026 watching them openly celebrate his exit (albeit indirectly). <\/span><\/p>\n

Given the expectations, Gordon\u2019s time in New Orleans was nothing short of a failure. Up until last season, Gordon\u2019s numbers decreased in each year after joining the Pelicans. His efficiency numbers plummeted. With the Pelicans, Eric Gordon’s shot became about as effective as cutting a steak with a plastic spork.<\/span><\/p>\n

Graphically, his career though six seasons would make a perfect bell curve\u00a0(up, up, up, then down, down, down). While injuries certainly played a major factor in his performance, it\u2019s not ordinary to see such a talented player peak at 22, then seemingly approach complete write-off status by the age of 26. However, talk of Gordon’s demise is greatly exaggerated.<\/span><\/p>\n

$58 Million Doesn’t Buy Happiness<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It would be easy to argue that the money should make the pain go away, at least to some extent. But not only is that wholly unfair to Gordon (or whomever you may be talking about), it’s a really irrational and cold-hearted way to look at the world.<\/p>\n

(Think about it: it is the suggestion that rich people don\u2019t experience human emotions the way the less wealthy do. Tying human emotion – or a lack thereof – to money is pretty ridiculous. It also ignores a basic tenet of the great philosopher Notorious B.I.G<\/strong><\/a>. Good luck telling Mark Cuban<\/strong>\u00a0that his money should make it more bearable to tolerate his\u00a0Dallas Mavericks<\/strong>‘\u00a0losses.)<\/p>\n

The Universe Turned\u00a0Against Him<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In 2012, Eric Gordon entered restricted free agency. He signed <\/span>an offer sheet<\/span><\/a> from the Phoenix Suns<\/strong> for $58 million over four years. Reports at the time (<\/span>per Yahoo!<\/span><\/a>) were that Gordon badly wanted out of New Orleans, and asked management not to match the Suns\u2019 offer, allowing him to go to Phoenix. In the same report, Gordon described how his relationship with the then-New Orleans Hornets management soured, and how he felt wronged (whether he was right is up to interpretation).<\/span><\/p>\n

With this information going public, along with Gordon\u2019s sub-par performance and inability to stay on the court, he became a pariah. He consistently landed on \u201cThe NBA\u2019s Worst Contracts<\/a>\u201d articles and lists. To add insult to injury (in the most literal sense), he didn’t even get the “luxury” of the support of his home crowd. Like most NBA fans, most fans in New Orleans saw him as an overpaid, under-performing, injury-riddled lost cause.<\/span><\/p>\n

Landing in Houston: A Home Awaits<\/strong><\/h3>\n

After entering the draft and ceding control of where he played, after getting traded to a place he probably didn’t want to go to in the first place, after attempting to leave and having that attempt blocked, Eric Gordon’s shot at finding a place to call home on his terms finally came. His contract expired, and this past free agency period allowed Gordon to dictate his future. In a larger and symbolic sense, Gordon\u2019s case represents a situation that seldom gets attention. Each NBA player runs his own business. And his business is his ability. <\/span><\/p>\n

In almost all other circumstances outside of sports, people can operate their business <\/span>where<\/span><\/i> they want. From age 18 to 27, Eric Gordon had no say in where he set up his business. No amount of money can make up for constricting one\u2019s freedom in regards to where one sets up shop, especially when people are in the top one\u00a0percent\u00a0of their profession. However, many players sacrifice that right in order to play professional basketball. But even within that context, Gordon is still a bit of a unique case.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are few players who deserve to have their careers divided into such different and distinct chapters as Gordon. As far as what was expected of him coming out of Indiana, he’ll probably never to live up to that. But playing in Houston, alongside James Harden<\/a><\/strong> and in Mike D\u2019Antoni<\/strong>\u2019s up-tempo system, offers the foundation for Gordon to put together a very respectable NBA career. Eric Gordon’s shot at becoming a version of the player he was supposed to be is at his doorstep. We will all get to watch it in real-time, and we should all root for him. We should hope it ends up being a redemption story.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Main photo:<\/p>\n

February 27, 2015 – New Orleans Pelicans guard Eric Gordon (10) during the game between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Miami Heat at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA. New Orleans Pelicans defeat the Miami Heat 104-102. (Photo by Stephen Lew\/Icon Sportswire\/Corbis via Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We should all be rooting for Eric Gordon, just out of respect for him. He deserves a second chance. This season is Eric Gordon’s shot at redemption.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1348,"featured_media":1844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[31,62],"tags":[65,446,333,189,96,220,280],"class_list":["post-1801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rockets","category-nba","tag-basketball","tag-eric-gordon","tag-houston-rockets","tag-los-angeles-clippers","tag-nba","tag-new-orleans-pelicans","tag-phoenix-suns"],"modified_by":"Lior Kozai (Managing Editor)","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1348"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}