At some point in the coming season, LaMarcus Aldridge will find himself playing in front of his former homecourt. And when that time comes, it looks like Aldridge knows what to expect.
As everyone knows by now, Aldridge left Portland and signed up with the San Antonio Spurs. Claiming that the Blazers have done nothing to help improve the team, Aldridge was pretty much vocal even while wearing the Blazers uniform in the previous NBA Playoffs that he would be listening to what other teams had to offer.
From the moment the center/forward mentioned that, it seemed practically apparent that Aldridge would be jumping ship.
Before the final decision was made, Portland was still in the hunt together with another Western conference team, the Phoenix Suns.
In the end, it was the team who did the necessary adjustments on their end who won out – the San Antonio Spurs.
Apparently the Spurs held a lot of what Aldridge was looking for, a combination of money and of course glory. More so, he is being groomed to succeed an aging Tim Duncan whom he can still play with before the NBA vet actually announces his retirement.
All these things, the ones that Aldridge wants, are something that Aldridge believes that Blazer fans will not understand. It somehow places himself in a similar situation when Lebron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers back in 2010.
The story was different however when James became a free agent in 2014 and eventually returned to his hometown. Forgotten were the boos and the cursed words and just like that, James was beloved once again.
In the case of Aldridge, that scenario could be far from happening. Well for one, there is the age factor.
By the time that Aldridge would be done with his contract, he could either be headed to retirement or be far from the player he is now. So could the Blazers ever understand and find it in themselves to make amends with Aldridge?
"I think going back [to Portland] my first time might be boos because I think people are really hurt by my decision. They don't understand why I left. So I think my first game back, I probably will be booed," Aldridge said in an interview.
Apparently time is a critical factor here. It seems only normal to see Aldridge getting booed on his first return. But after some time, those boos are bound to fade away one by one once everything has settled down.
