DeAndre Jordan on hack-a-Jordan: ‘After a while, it kind of wears on you’

DeAndre Jordan has shot 54 free throws over the last two games, a stat that a reporter pointed out to him after the Clippers’ 119-115 win Thursday over the San Antonio Spurs.

Jordan’s response: “Fifty-four? I don’t want to know how many I made.”

Another reporter then informed him that he made only 22 of them, or 40.7%.

“I dropped out of college, but percentage wise, I don’t think that’s...” Jordan said with a smile.

On Thursday, Jordan shot more free throws (28) than the entire Spurs team (23). The same thing happened in the Clippers’ 110-95 win over Houston on Feb. 11, with Jordan singlehandedly outshooting the Rockets team from the charity stripe, 26-22.

Jordan says he understands “Hack-a-Jordan,” even though he doesn’t particularly appreciate it.

“It’s something teams are going to use as a strategy to slow us down, and get me mentally frustrated,” he said. “Over the years it’s become something I’ve gotten used to. As long as we’re getting stop and I’m making them, it really doesn’t matter.”

The Clippers’ center got pounded so much Thursday that he said the Spurs players even felt a bit bad. Jordan said Aron Baynes, in a conciliatory manner, told Jordan that he had to keep fouling him. Tim Duncan even offered Jordan an empathetic word.

“He was like, ‘Man, I hate playing like that,’” Jordan said of Duncan. “I said I’ve just got to make them. He was like, yeah, once you start making them then it’s going to be tough. Teams are going to have a problem. Hearing that from him is always great, a Hall of Famer.”

Jordan said that constantly being fouled takes a toll on him.

“After a while it kind of wears on you,” he said. “Running up and down and getting hit by somebody that’s 280 pounds, it sucks, but at the same time we won, and I was able to get some more free throw practice.”

Jordan may be struggling from the free throw line, but he’s excelling just about everywhere else on the court right now.

He came close to having his third consecutive 20-20 performance on Thursday, finishing with 26 points and 18 boards. He had 22 points and 27 rebounds in the Clippers’ 115-98 win over Dallas on Feb. 9, and 24 points and 20 rebounds in the team’s 110-95 win over Houston on Feb. 11.

He’s had three 20-20 performances in his career, all of them this month.

Jordan has helped the Clippers win three consecutive games without Blake Griffin, who is out after having surgery Feb. 9 to remove a staph infection from his right elbow. He acknowledged that he’s playing the best he’s ever played in his career right now.

“Numbers-wise, yeah,” he said. “All of it’s just confidence and getting an opportunity to play and play through mistakes. That’s also big.”

He leads the league in rebounding (13.9 a game), is third in the NBA in blocked shots (2.3 a game), and is averaging a career-high 11 points on 72.5% shooting from the field.

When a reporter suggested sponsorship deals must be rolling in considering his incredible play as of late, Jordan laughed.

“My grandma gave me a big tall cup of Coke,” he said, adding, “It was hot though, so it wasn’t great.”

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