Sumith Prasad
In FX on Hulu’s sports drama series ‘Clipped,’ the Los Angeles Clippers player DeAndre Jordan has a pet Chinese water dragon. In the premiere episode, DeAndre goes to a pet store with a fellow player and talks about how the species is remarkable when compared to a gecko. In the third episode, the NBA player shows up in front of his teammate Blake Griffin with the Chinese water dragon. This particular addition of a water dragon into DeAndre’s storyline makes the character stand out among the other NBA players in the narrative. As far as its authenticity is concerned, let us say that the reptile features in the show for a reason!
DeAndre Jordan’s Chinese Water Dragon
DeAndre really had a pet Chinese water dragon while he was playing for the Los Angeles Clippers. In an interview given to Bleacher Report, the NBA player talked about missing his pet, and in his words, it ran away “to a better place.” To cope with the absence of the lizard, he started sharing his life with a Boxer named Bruce. The dog was named after Batman’s real identity, Bruce Wayne. During his Clippers days, DeAndre frequently shared his pictures with Bruce, who used to join the NBA player while he was seemingly training at his house.
DeAndre’s love for animals and the environment led him to a plant-based diet in 2018. He even hosted a cooking show titled ‘Cooking Clean’ to promote Vegan recipes. “Once you educate yourself a lot on what you’re putting in your body and where the protein is actually coming from, [going vegan] was an easy decision for me,” the basketball player said while appearing in the series. “And also, environmentally, being able to take care of the planet—not only for ourselves but for our children and their children and so on—I just wanted to be able to have some kind of impact on us bettering our environment,” he added.
The performance of Sheldon Bailey, who is known for playing Kenyatta in Showtime’s ‘Shameless,’ as DeAndre with a Chinese water dragon is well-received. “I do wanna say the casting in ‘Clipped’ is often spiritually perfect. Sure, the actor playing DeAndre Jordan is 6’1”, but he really feels believable being into pet lizards,” a viewer shared about the actor. The actor recently posted an image of himself as the NBA player with the Chinese water dragon, mentioning the latter as “Astro.”
The Chinese water dragon is an agamid lizard that is native to China and Mainland Southeast Asia, a region that’s formed by countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia. The species is considered “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, especially since it is being overharvested for meat and pet trade. The United States and Europe are two of the several major importers of the lizard species, with the latter recording 62,962 dragon imports between 2010 and 2018 for the pet trade, as per Reptiles Magazine.
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