Doc Rivers says DeAndre Jordan is playing come hell or high water.
Charles Barkley thinks that’s a bad idea.
Rivers is insistent on trotting out DeAndre Jordan, once a star big man but now a liability against centers with even a little bit of mobility. This comes after Jordan actually wasn’t even in the rotation in the Philadelphia 76ers’ first-round win over the Toronto Raptors.
But with Joel Embiid out after getting hurt in the clinching win over Toronto, Rivers is leaning on Jordan, who was a -22 in Game 1 as he posted just four points with two blocks and as many rebounds and turnovers across 17:17.
That obviously won’t cut it, and appearing on Danny Green’s podcast “Inside the Green Room”, Barkley encouraged Rivers to sit the 33-year-old.
"Let me tell you something: DeAndre needs to be sitting over there beside Doc Rivers and those guys," Barkley said (25:10 mark in player above). "It’s over for DeAndre. He’s had a hell of a career, but he can’t play – especially in today’s NBA. Today’s NBA, unless you can move it’s very difficult for you. … Other than (Deandre) Ayton, I don’t see any big guys (left in the playoffs) that he can match up with. He’s too old and slow to guard Bam (Adebayo).
"Big guys who can’t move can’t play in today’s NBA game, and that’s not fair to DeAndre to put himself out there."
It’s not as though the Sixers don’t have options. They could turn to Paul Reed, or even Charles Bassey, for those minutes. They might not be the players Jordan is at his best, but it’s been a long time since we’ve seen Jordan at his best, and that’s incentive enough to try one of the youngsters.
It’s a decision that will need to be made soon, though. Game 2 of 76ers-Heat is set for Wednesday night, with Miami up 1-0 in the best-of-seven set.
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