LOS ANGELES – DeAndre Jordan’s first taste of his new life with more responsibility, more attention and more notoriety almost got off to the worst possible start.

Eager to begin the process of moving on from a free-agent flip-flop that captivated social media, Jordan walked into the press room at Staples Center on Tuesday. Looking refreshed from a Jamaican vacation, he strode across the stage while the cameras watched, waiting for him to sit down and explain himself.

Calmly, he walked to his seat in the front row. As he went to sit, to take on whatever questions and criticisms were headed his way, he nearly slipped off his chair and fell to the ground.

“I was like ‘Oh (expletive),’” Jordan joked after. “That would’ve been bad.”

Just like Jordan’s plan for free agency, Tuesday almost didn’t go as he planned. Jordan figured he’d tell only one team he would be playing for them next season. He didn’t expect to become a symbol of indecision, or to ignite emoji warfare.

“Originally when free agency started,” he said almost sheepishly, “this whole fiasco was not my intent.”

And it was not Jordan’s intent to leave Dallas in a free agent lurch after deciding he’d rather be a Clipper, but he did. And, it made people angry.

While he wasn’t exactly grilled during Tuesday’s news conference with the Clippers’ other offseason signings, he knows publicly talking about it for the first time won’t put an end to the criticism.

“It’s absolutely not behind me,” he said. “I think over time, it will be. Just, there are people making this out like I committed some huge crime, like I’m an enemy of the state.”

He almost certainly is an enemy of one state – Texas – but Jordan thinks people will eventually understand his change of heart.

“Over time, they’ll understand I did what was best for me,” he said.

Weirdly enough, that’s what he thought he was doing when he said yes to Dallas in the first place.

Jordan, the longest-tenured Clipper on the roster, acknowledged a desire to take on more responsibility on and off the court, a desire for a bigger role on offense.

“I thought I wanted change and I needed change in my career,” he said. “I wanted a bigger role and more responsibility. And I was ready to embrace and accept that challenge.”

But when the decision to leave was made, when he was no longer being pitched by Dallas owner Mark Cuban or partying with Chandler Parsons, Jordan decided there was something he wanted more than all of that.

And in maybe the biggest twist of all, in the way Michael Jordan is a Bull, the way Patrick Ewing is a Knick, the way Kobe Bryant is a Laker and the way his new teammate Paul Pierce is a Celtic, Jordan wants to be a Clipper.

“When I thought about everything, it was just all unfinished,” Jordan said. “I wanted to be one of those guys – like Paul – who just stays with a team. You go through the ups and downs with a franchise and he won a championship. I’m pretty sure he’d say it was worth it.

“I want that too.”

And this might be the Clippers’ best chance for that kind of postseason glory.

In addition to Jordan, Tuesday the team introduced Pierce, Josh Smith, Austin Rivers, Wesley Johnson, Cole Aldrich and rookie Branden Dawson. The group represents a championship presence and poise that had been missing, and a revamped bench to go along with a starting unit that was on the cusp of its first trip to the Western Conference finals just months ago.

“On paper, I like us against anyone,” Doc Rivers said. “I’m sure other teams will say the same thing. But we all know from being around this that it’s going to take a group that wants to play together, wants to get together and wants to win together.”

Instead of getting bogged down in all the ugliness that Jordan’s free agency produced (“I’m taking the high road,” Rivers said), the focus Tuesday was on the future.

For Jordan, that future means staying a Clipper for a long time, grabbing rebounds, slamming home dunks and, hopefully, hoisting the team’s first title banner. It’s a future that could one day include a jersey in the rafters.

And despite Dallas’ promises and attractiveness, ultimately, that’s what mattered most to Jordan.

“I really thought about being on one team for my entire career, and that was really important to me,” he said. “ … I have been really successful with this guy (Doc Rivers) and with this group of players and the organization.

“And the sky’s the limit for our team.”

Now, it’s on Jordan and the Clippers not to slip.

Contact the writer: dwoike@ocregister.com