LaMarcus Aldridge

LaMarcus Aldridge

Aldridge with the Trail Blazers in December 2008
No. 12 – San Antonio Spurs
Position Power forward / Center
League NBA
Personal information
Born (1985-07-19) July 19, 1985
Dallas, Texas
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight 240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
High school Seagoville (Dallas, Texas)
College Texas (2004–2006)
NBA draft 2006 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2nd overall
Selected by the Chicago Bulls
Playing career 2006–present
Career history
2006–2015 Portland Trail Blazers
2015–present San Antonio Spurs
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com

LaMarcus Nurae Aldridge (born July 19, 1985) is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The power forward played college basketball for two seasons at the University of Texas. Aldridge was selected second overall in the 2006 NBA draft. After spending nine seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, he signed with the Spurs in 2015. He has been selected to three All-NBA teams and is a five-time NBA All-Star.

High school career

Aldridge attended Seagoville High School, where he became a second-team Parade All-American and Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (TABC) Class 4A Player of the Year.

Considered a five-star recruit by Rivals.com, Aldridge was listed as the No. 4 center and the No. 16 player in the nation in 2004.[1]

College career

Aldridge attended the University of Texas.[2] He declared for the 2004 NBA Draft but ultimately withdrew his name.[3] According to one report, Aldridge's initial decision to attend college rather than entering the pro ranks directly from high school was influenced by Shaquille O'Neal's personal advice that he should go to college and then evaluate his NBA prospects.[4] However, in April 2006, near the end of his second year at UT, Aldridge announced that he would leave college to enter the 2006 NBA Draft.[5]

College statistics

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2004–05 Texas 161622.2.663.000.6575.9.91.11.59.9
2005–06 Texas 373733.7.569.000.6469.2.51.42.015.0
Career 535327.9.616.000.6527.5.71.21.712.4

College awards and honors

Professional career

Portland Trail Blazers (2006–2015)

2006–07 season

Aldridge was drafted second overall in the 2006 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls, only to have his rights traded to the Portland Trail Blazers for their pick, Tyrus Thomas, and Viktor Khryapa, shortly after. The Bulls acquired the pick from the New York Knicks in the 2005 Eddy Curry trade.

Aldridge missed the first seven games of the 2006–07 NBA season due to off-season shoulder surgery, but returned ahead of schedule due in part to an injury to fellow rookie teammate Brandon Roy. Aldridge made an immediate impact on offense, averaging 8.4 points on 54% shooting from the field through his first 14 games. After the loss of starting center Joel Przybilla, in February 2007 to season-ending knee surgery, Aldridge was awarded the starting center position and improved his scoring to 14.7 points with 8.0 rebounds per game in the month of March. This placed him second in the voting for the Western Conference Rookie of the Month to Roy. On March 31, 2007, in the first quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers, Aldridge was taken to Providence Hospital in Portland for shortness of breath and irregular heartbeat. He was diagnosed with Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome on April 9 and missed the remaining eight games of the 2006–07 season.[6] Aldridge started 22 games his rookie season.[7]

Aldridge was one of six players named to the 2007 NBA All-Rookie first team; he tied for fifth place with Toronto Raptors player Jorge Garbajosa.[8]

2007–08 season

Aldridge elevated his play in his sophomore year, with career highs in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals, and finished third in voting for the NBA Most Improved Player Award.[9] During this season, Aldridge had injury troubles due to plantar fasciitis, which caused him to miss games from December 11 to December 18, 2007.[10] After the time missed, Aldridge still had some trouble with the foot but was able to play effectively.

2008–09 season

Aldridge played inconsistently to start the season, adjusting to more defensive pressure. He called the first 15 games "the worst funk" of his life[11] but gradually improved as the season went on.[12]

Aldridge developed his offensive game over the course of the season, still relying heavily on his midrange fade away shot. He finished the season averaging 18.1 points and 7.5 rebounds.[13] Aldridge scored over 20 points in half of the last 28 games of the season. For his first time in the league Aldridge nearly played a full season, missing only one game.[14]

2009–10 season

In late October, Aldridge signed a five-year, $65 million contract extension with Portland. Before committing to Aldridge, the Trail Blazers finalized a five-year, $80 million deal with All-Star Brandon Roy.[15]

Aldridge put up similar numbers to the previous season. Early in December, Greg Oden suffered a season-ending injury.[16] Aldridge received more minutes and offensive opportunities as a result.

2010–11 season

Aldridge further emerged as both a player and a leader after Brandon Roy went out with knee problems in December 2010. In spite of Portland's "send LA to LA" program - the NBA All-Star game was in Los Angeles and Aldridge's nickname is "L-A" - Aldridge failed to get named to the Western Conference squad. He was, however, awarded the NBA Player of the Week for January 17–23 and February 7–13, and scored a career-high 42 points against the Chicago Bulls on February 7, 2011. On March 2, he joined Clyde Drexler (1991) and Kelvin Ransey (1981) as the only Blazers to ever receive the NBA Player of the Month award. Aldridge was runner-up to Kevin Love for the Most Improved Player Award, and voted to the All-NBA Third Team with 135 votes.

2011–12 season

Due to the lockout, the 2011–12 season did not start until Christmas Day 2011. Blazer fans were hopeful that the three players advertised in their "Rise With Us" promotional campaign (Aldridge, Roy and Greg Oden) would finally have a chance to play together for a "full" season. Those plans evaporated when Roy, who suffered from chronic knee problems due to the lack of cartilage in them, retired and Oden, who had only played in 82 games in the previous four seasons, had yet another setback in his effort to rehabilitate his knees. Aldridge was named a reserve on the Western Conference All-Star team in 2012.

2012–13 season

On November 12, 2012, Aldridge recorded a career high eight assists in a 87-95 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. In 2013, Aldridge was named an All-Star for the second time in his career. He averaged 21.1 points per game, a career high 9.1 rebounds per game and also recorded a career high 2.6 assists per game in 37.7 minutes per game. The Trail Blazers went 33-49 and missed the playoffs for the second straight year.

2013–14 season

Despite trade rumors during the 2013 offseason, Aldridge voiced his desire to stay put in Portland, while also asking for improvements to the Blazers' roster.[17] Aldridge started out his eighth NBA season strong, recording five straight double-doubles from November 9 to November 17. On November 23, 2013, in a game against the Warriors, Aldridge was involved in an altercation after Warriors center Andrew Bogut became entangled with Joel Freeland. On November 25, it was announced that he was fined $45,000 for escalating the incident.[18] The very same day, Aldridge was named Western Conference Player of the Week for the fourth time in his career. The award came in the midst of an 11-game win streak for the Blazers, during which Aldridge averaged 21.1 points, 11.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.5 blocks per game. On December 12, 2013, Aldridge scored 31 points and grabbed a career-high 25 rebounds in a 111–104 victory over the Houston Rockets, becoming the first player in Portland Trail Blazers franchise history with at least 30 points and 25 rebounds in a game.[19] On January 23, 2014, Aldridge recorded a career high 44 points along with 13 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks in a 110-105 victory over the Denver Nuggets.[20]

The Trail Blazers went 31-10 over the first half of the 2014 season, consistently staying near the top of the Western Conference through the first three months of the season, and making a push for a return to the playoffs. Alongside teammate Damian Lillard, Aldridge was voted in as a reserve for the 2014 NBA All-Star Game, his third straight appearance. He finished fifth in the frontcourt fan voting, garnering over 600,000 votes.[21]

Aldridge suffered a lower back contusion during the third quarter of a game versus the Spurs on March 12, 2014.[22] He missed the next seven games, but returned in time to help the Blazers secure their 30th playoff berth and first since 2011.

On April 20, 2014, Aldridge recorded a new career high and franchise playoff high of 46 points along with 18 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks in Game 1 of the opening round of the playoffs against the Houston Rockets which ended in a 122-120 overtime win for the Portland Trail Blazers. On April 23, 2014, in Game 2 of the Blazers' series against the Houston Rockets, Aldridge tallied 43 points and 8 rebounds. He joins Michael Jordan, Jerry West, Allen Iverson, and Tracy McGrady as the only players in NBA history to score 89 or more points in the first two games of a playoff series.[22] Over the entire six-game series with Houston, Aldridge averaged 29.8 points and over 2.5 blocks per game. In the next series against the San Antonio Spurs, Aldridge struggled, shooting only 41.7 percent from the field, as the Blazers were handily defeated in five games. Ultimately, Aldridge had a career season in 2014, winning three Western Conference Player of the Week awards, and recording career highs in points per game, rebounds per game, free-throw percentage, defensive rebounds, and double-doubles.

2014–15 season

LaMarcus Aldridge signing autographs at TD Garden on November 23, 2014

On December 9, 2014, in a game against the Detroit Pistons, Aldridge passed Terry Porter for second on the franchise's all-time scoring list with 11,333 career points.[23] After leading Portland over the first half of the season with averages of 23.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, Aldridge was ruled out for six to eight weeks on January 23, 2015, after tearing the radial collateral ligament in his left thumb.[24] However, he missed just two games after deciding against surgery and returned to the starting lineup on January 24 against the Washington Wizards, scoring 26 points in a victory that followed two losses with him sidelined.[25] After being selected as a frontcourt reserve to his fourth straight NBA All-Star Game appearance on January 29, Aldridge was named as a starter on February 14 by Western Conference All-Star head coach Steve Kerr, replacing the injured Anthony Davis.[26]

On March 20, 2015, Aldridge became the Trail Blazers' all-time leader in rebounds by recording 10 against the Orlando Magic.[27] Meanwhile, however, the Blazers were cooling off after a 30-11 record through the first 41 games of the season when shooting guard Wesley Matthews, who Aldridge called "the heart and soul" of the Trail Blazers, tore his Achilles tendon on March 5 against the Dallas Mavericks and missed the rest of the season and playoffs,[28] The Blazers subsequently went 21-20 through their final 41 games. In the playoffs, the short-handed Blazers were outplayed and outmatched by the Memphis Grizzlies in five games. Aldridge averaged a career-best 23.4 points per game, made a league-best 659 field goals, and was voted onto the All-NBA Second Team.[29]

San Antonio Spurs (2015–present)

On July 9, 2015, Aldridge signed a four-year, $80 million contract with the San Antonio Spurs.[30][31] Upon being acquired by the Spurs, Aldridge was granted the number 12 jersey despite it having been retired for Bruce Bowen. Bowen gave Aldridge and the Spurs his blessing to unretire the number for him.[32] He made his debut for the Spurs in the team's season opener on October 28 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. In just under 32 minutes of action, he recorded 11 points and 5 rebounds in a 112–106 loss.[33] On November 11, he returned to Portland for the first time as a Spur, recording 23 points and 6 rebounds in a 113–101 win over his former team.[34] On February 1, 2016, he scored a season-high 28 points in a 107–92 win over the Orlando Magic, helping the Spurs win its 35th straight home game (dating to March 2015), good for the sixth-best streak in league history.[35] He topped his season-high mark two days later, scoring 36 points in a 110–97 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. With the win, the Spurs moved to 27–0 at home to start the season, snapping a tie with the 1977–78 Portland Trail Blazers for the best home start among Western Conference teams.[36] On February 8, he was named the Western Conference Player of the Week for games played Monday, February 1 through Sunday, February 7. He averaged 26.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks while shooting .597 (37-62) from the field and .909 from the foul line to help the Spurs go 4–0 for the week.[37]

After dislocating his right pinkie finger on April 7, it bothered him for the rest of the regular season and into the playoffs. As the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, the Spurs faced a depleted Memphis Grizzlies team in the first round. In a Game 1 win, Aldridge scored 17 points.[38] The Spurs went on to sweep the Grizzlies in the first round to move on to the conference semi-finals, where they faced the Oklahoma City Thunder. In Game 1 of the series against the Thunder, Aldridge scored a game-high 38 points on 18-of-23 shooting in a 124–92 win.[39] In a Game 2 loss, he bested that mark by scoring 41 points.[40]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2006–07 Portland 63 22 22.1 .503 .000 .722 5.0 .4 .3 1.2 9.0
2007–08 Portland 76 76 34.9 .484 .143 .762 7.6 1.6 .7 1.2 17.8
2008–09 Portland 81 81 37.1 .484 .250 .781 7.5 1.9 1.0 1.0 18.1
2009–10 Portland 78 78 37.5 .495 .313 .757 8.0 2.1 .9 .6 17.9
2010–11 Portland 81 81 39.6 .500 .174 .791 8.8 2.1 1.0 1.2 21.8
2011–12 Portland 55 55 36.3 .512 .182 .814 8.0 2.4 .9 .8 21.7
2012–13 Portland 74 74 37.7 .484 .143 .810 9.1 2.6 .8 1.2 21.1
2013–14 Portland 69 69 36.2 .458 .200 .822 11.1 2.6 .9 1.0 23.2
2014–15 Portland 71 71 35.4 .466 .352 .845 10.2 1.7 .7 1.0 23.4
2015–16 San Antonio 74 74 30.6 .513 .000 .858 8.5 1.5 .5 1.1 18.0
Career 722 681 34.9 .487 .257 .802 8.4 1.9 .8 1.0 19.2
All-Star 4 1 13.0 .407 1.000 .000 3.0 .5 .0 .5 6.5

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2009 Portland 6 6 39.5 .490 .250 .700 7.5 1.3 .5 1.7 19.5
2010 Portland 6 6 38.2 .430 .500 .750 6.0 2.2 1.2 1.8 19.0
2011 Portland 6 6 43.0 .461 .000 .792 7.5 1.3 1.3 1.7 20.8
2014 Portland 11 11 40.1 .452 .667 .800 10.6 1.5 0.6 1.6 26.2
2015 Portland 5 5 41.6 .330 .273 .889 11.2 1.8 0.4 2.4 21.8
Career 34 34 40.4 .436 .350 .794 8.8 1.6 0.8 1.8 22.1

Career highs

Awards and honors

Personal life

Aldridge and his ex-partner have a son together, Jaylen Lea Aldridge, who was born April 23, 2009.[50] His second son, LaMarcus Jr., was born in 2011.[51]

Aldridge's cousin, Marlon Hairston, is a midfielder for the Colorado Rapids.[52]

In 2007, Aldridge was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, a heart ailment. He missed the rest of the 2006–07 regular season in order to monitor the problem and correct it.[53] Prior to the 2011–12 season, Aldridge once again underwent surgery to correct complications associated with his heart condition.[54]

Aldridge appeared in the eighth episode of the second season of Portlandia, attending the 10th anniversary of the bookstore Women and Women First with Penny Marshall.

References

  1. ↑ LaMarcus Aldridge Recruiting Profile
  2. ↑ Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau. Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau Tout "Big 12. Big D. Big Time." (press release for return of Big 12 championships to Dallas), March 3, 2006
  3. ↑ Fifty-Three Early Entry Candidates Withdraw
  4. ↑ Consensus Is That This Draft Has No Clear No. 1, Published June 27, 2006
  5. ↑ Texas' Aldridge declares for NBA draft, Associated Press, April 19, 2006
  6. ↑ LaMarcus Aldridge Update
  7. ↑ LaMarcus Aldridge – Portland Trail Blazers – Game Log – NBA – Yahoo! Sports
  8. ↑ Roy Headlines 2006–07 NBA T-Mobile All-Rookie Team, nba.com, 8 May 2007, accessed 12 May 2007.
  9. ↑ Quick, Jason (April 28, 2008). "Turkoglu wins M.I.P.; Aldridge 3rd". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
  10. ↑ Quick, Jason (December 10, 2007). "BREAKING NEWS: Aldridge out at least a week". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  11. ↑ Odom, Joel (April 17, 2009). "Blazers' Aldridge: Moving from 'potential' to 'special'". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2011-01-25.
  12. ↑ Mills, Marshall (January 20, 2009). "A changed Aldridge: Blazers' unassuming forward blossoms into an impact player". The Blazers Beat, OregonLive. Retrieved 2011-01-25.
  13. ↑ "Player Stats: LaMarcus Aldridge". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2011-01-25.
  14. ↑ Deckard, Dave (2009-05-06). "The Season in Review: LaMarcus Aldridge". Blazersedge. Retrieved 2011-01-25.
  15. ↑ Ford, Chad. "Source: Aldridge to get $65M extension". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2011-01-25.
  16. ↑ Freeman, Joe (December 5, 2009). "Greg Oden suffers major knee injury". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2011-01-25.
  17. ↑ Haynes: Blazers, LaMarcus Aldridge's Camp Discuss Trade Possibilities; No Move Imminent
  18. ↑ Mo Williams Suspended, LaMarcus Aldridge & Wesley Matthews Fined After Scrum Between Blazers & Warriors
  19. ↑ "Notebook: Trail Blazers 111, Rockets 104". NBA.com. December 13, 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  20. ↑ Notebook: Trail Blazers 110, Nuggets 105
  21. ↑ Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, LaMarcus Aldridge headline 2014 All-Star Game reserves
  22. 1 2 LaMarcus Aldridge injury: Blazers forward to sit 2 games with lower back contusion
  23. ↑ LaMarcus Aldridge Becomes Second-Leading Scorer in Franchise History
  24. ↑ "Trail Blazers lose LaMarcus Aldridge". ESPN.com. January 23, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
  25. ↑ Pelton, Kevin (January 25, 2015). "LaMarcus Aldridge returns early". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  26. ↑ Trail Blazers' LaMarcus Aldridge will start All-Star Game in place of Anthony Davis
  27. ↑ LaMarcus Aldridge becomes Blazers all-time leading rebounder
  28. ↑ Wesley Matthews injury: Trail Blazers lose their heart and soul (video)
  29. ↑ Warriors' Curry and Cavaliers' James unanimous picks for 2014-15 All-NBA First Team
  30. ↑ "Spurs Sign LaMarcus Aldridge". NBA.com. July 9, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  31. ↑ ESPN news services (2015-07-04). "LaMarcus Aldridge says he has decided to go with the Spurs". espn.go.com. Retrieved 2015-07-04.
  32. ↑ "With Bowen’s blessing, Spurs to give No. 12 to Aldridge". MySA. July 9, 2015. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
  33. ↑ "Donovan wins NBA coaching debut, Thunder beat Spurs 112-106". NBA.com. October 28, 2015. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  34. ↑ "Aldridge returns and Spurs beat Portland 113-101". NBA.com. November 11, 2015. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
  35. ↑ "Aldridge scores 28 as Spurs beat Magic 107-92". NBA.com. February 1, 2016. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
  36. ↑ "Aldridge scores season-high 36, Spurs beat Pelicans 110-97". NBA.com. February 3, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  37. ↑ "LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE NAMED WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK". NBA.com. February 8, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
  38. ↑ "Leonard leads Spurs to 32-point victory over Grizzlies". NBA.com. April 17, 2016. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
  39. ↑ "Aldridge has 38 points, Spurs rout Thunder 124-92 in Game 1". NBA.com. April 30, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  40. ↑ "Thunder hold on beat Spurs 98-97, even series at 1-1". NBA.com. May 2, 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  41. ↑ "Player of the Week: LaMarcus Aldridge wins first player of the week award". kptv.com. January 25, 2011. Retrieved February 17, 2011.
  42. ↑ "LaMarcus wins another player of the week award". oregonlive.com. February 14, 2011. Retrieved February 17, 2011.
  43. ↑ Blazers F LaMarcus Aldridge Named Western Conference Player Of The Week
  44. ↑ LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE NAMED NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
  45. ↑ Crawford, Aldridge named Players of the Week
  46. ↑ Irving, Aldridge named Players of the Week
  47. ↑ Lowry, Aldridge named Players of the Week
  48. ↑ Horford, Aldridge named Players of the Week
  49. ↑ "LaMarcus wins player of the month award". oregonlive.com. March 2, 2011. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
  50. ↑ Quick, Jason (2009-07-01). "'Faith' keeps LaMarcus Aldridge confident he'll stay with Blazers". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  51. ↑ Inside LaMarcus Aldridge - Blazers' MVP candidate talks Portland, contract extension and life
  52. ↑ SuperDraft: Marlon Hairston excited to join Colorado Rapids after bonding with Pablo Mastroeni
  53. ↑ "LaMarcus Aldridge diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome". The Oregonian. April 9, 2007.
  54. ↑ Blazers F LaMarcus Aldridge Misses Camp, Out 1-2 Weeks After Procedure On Heart

External links

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