Everybody is shocked — shocked I tell you! — by a story suggesting that former Blazer and current Spur LaMarcus Aldridge thought about returning to Portland.
I have four questions about that LaMarcus Aldridge/Blazers story that’s burning up the interwebs:
Yeah?
And?
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So?
What?
In case you’re one of the few people who doesn’t already know, here’s the crux of the issue, as reported by Ken Berger at Bleacher Report.
"Last season, a deep rift developed between the (San Antonio Spurs) and All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge, to the point where Aldridge called former teammate Damian Lillard and asked him to approach general manager Neil Olshey about bringing Aldridge back to Portland, a person familiar with the conversation told B/R."
If Twitter and the blogosphere are any indication, then I am definitely in the minority on this one. That’s because I am neither surprised nor bewildered by this information.
In fact, the only thing that surprises and/or bewilders me is the fact that people continue to think it’s possible to know what motivates a certain player to do a certain thing.
Aldridge and the Blazers
When Aldridge left the Blazers for the Spurs, a lot of people in Rip City got all huffy and puffy about it.
Why?
Because Aldridge had said in July 2014 that he wanted to re-sign with Portland, and the worst thing a sports person can do is change his mind, apparently.
LaMarcus Aldridge said he wants to finish his career in Portland. One reason why: "I want to be the best Blazer. Ever."
— Joe Freeman (@BlazerFreeman) July 8, 2014
Fast forward one year: Aldridge — surprise! — changes his mind and decides to sign a contract with the Spurs instead.
Jason Quick, a longtime chroniclers of the franchise, said there was “a collective sigh of relief” within the Trail Blazers organization when Aldridge opted to leave the Blazers after nine seasons. Aldridge, you see, could be prickly and sensitive.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Quick wrote at the time. “Everybody wanted him back in Portland; his talent made the Blazers a better team. But from the front office to the marketing department to the game-day support staff, there was a general exhaustion with Aldridge. Massaging an ego so often, for so many years, can take its toll.”
July 9, 2015
When I heard the news that LMA had signed with the Spurs, I was bummed as a Portland Trail Blazers fan. Aldridge is an excellent player, after all. But I wasn’t angry. I don’t get angry over an athlete’s decision to play or not play for my favorite team. Because I don’t know Aldridge — and neither do you. But surely we can agree that a player may have reasons for changing his mind — and that we are not privy to that info.
One of the reasons for the anger over LaMarcus’ quote-unquote betrayal was the fact that a talented Blazers squad which had just won 51 games was disintegrating before our very eyes.
First, the Blazers traded Nicolas Batum on June 24, 2015. And then on July 9 of that year — in one fell swoop — the Blazers also lost Aldridge, Robin Lopez and Wesley Matthews.
That’s 4 out of 5 starters, for those of you keeping count.
Now
So now we learn that Aldridge reached out to Damian Lillard “and asked him to approach general manager Neil Olshey about bringing Aldridge back to Portland.” We also learn that, apparently, we should “file this nugget under things you never thought you would read” and that we should be asking ourselves, “Can you even imagine?”
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But why, exactly? Why is it hard to imagine? Unless we can read minds, we should be no more surprised that this convo between Lillard and Aldridge took place than we were when Aldridge decided to leave Portland in the first place. These are fickle superstars we’re talking about here. Why should anything they do surprise us?
Especially since we don’t know these people.
Anyway, there’s no word yet from Lillard — or Olshey — on this supposed bombshell of a rumor. It will be interesting to hear what they have to say about it.