Jared Jordan (187-PG-1984, college: Marist) is a former professional player that had a 13 year professional basketball career. He began his career at Kingswood school in West Hartford and then played at Marist (NCAA) from 2003-2007 being named MAAC player of the year in 2007 and led the NCAA in assists twice. He began his professional career in 2007 in Lithuania with top team Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius (Lithuania-LKL) and played a season in the then D-League with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. He returned to Europe in 2009 and would play the rest of his career overseas until 2020. He was most of his time in Germany where he played 8 seasons for teams like the Telekom Baskets Bonn, Brose Bamberg and the Tigers Tuebingen. He also played in Greece with VAP Kolossos Rodou, in Spain with Gipuzkoa BC San Sebastian and closed out his career in Romania with BC CSU Sibiu. It didn’t matter where he played but as some say that guy is a walking bucket, Jordan was a walking dime as he led the easyCredit BBL in assists 6 times and also led the top European league ACB in Spain in assists and in Greece and Romania. He was a three time BBL allstar and is the all-time easyCredit assist leader breaking ex Lebron James teammate Dru Joyce’s mark in 2017 with his 1458th assist. He shared his memories playing against Rickey Paulding.

Thanks Jordan for talking to germanhoops.com. Where are you and how is life treating you at the moment?

Hey miles, I am in West Hartford CT where we have lived since I retried a couple years ago. Everything is good here and nice to be settled back home.

You retired from the game in 2020. You have made the next step in your life and are in real estate. How is that new challenge?

Real estate has been really good so far. It has been a crazy market the last couple years but it keeps me busy and has a competitive side to it as well which I love.

You have been away from the game for 2 years. What do you miss the most?

It’s not easy playing for 13 years professionally and then just stopping. I do miss the game of basketball. I especially miss the daily routine and competitiveness. It was a great 13 years but I knew my time was over once covid hit.

Rickey Paulding had his farewell game on June 4. What is the first thing that you think about when you hear Rickey Paulding?

When I hear Ricky’s name the first think I think of is ultimate professional. He just always seemed to go about his business in such a professional manner that all you can do is respect him.

Have you ever seen a player that was able to play so well at such a high age?

What Ricky did was so impressive because he was so consistent for so many years. It’s not easy doing that but he made it look easy!

What do you think was your record against him? Were you above or below 500?

If I had to guess I was below 500 vs him unfortunately but we had some good battles over the years!

You were 7-12. You were 7-5 with the Telekom baskets Bonn, but your time with Tuebingen hurt your overall record as you were 0-6. How do you remember Rickey Paulding the competitor?

Hahah the 0-6 def hurts. I remember our battles and playoff games vs each other when I was in Bonn. Ricky was the ultimate competitor and always showed up when it mattered. He would always hit tough shots when it really counted.

You had very memorable games against him early in your career. In the 11-12 season you were 2-0 and had 18 and 15 assists games. What do you remember from these games?

I remember the 18 assist game playing in the old arena in Oldenburg. It was like a scorer getting hot and I found a rhythm and it just clicked. I was lucky guys made shots which is always key!

In the 12-13 season you lost a tough 5 game series to Oldenburg. What memories do you have from this series?

That was a great series. You know what sticks out was Kyle Weems having like 30 points in the first half in one of the games. I knew at that time that Kyle was going to have a great career!

What kind of legacy do you feel will he leave in the EasyCredit BBL. Do you feel there will ever be another American that will reach his longevity?

What Ricky has done and the respect he’s earned from everyone in Germany will be hard to match. He was one of the best players, competitors and professionals the BBL will ever see.

Please leave some closing words for Rickey.

Rickey, congrats on an amazing career! You were always one of my favorite players and the way you went about it was something I always admired. Enjoy life after basketball with your family and I wish you nothing but the best!