LaMarcus Aldridge was not nervous before his first regular season game, as arrhythmia forced him to retire early and abruptly last season.
Aldridge came to Brooklyn after a contract negotiation with the San Antonio Spurs in the middle of the year. In his first five games as a Tennis team, he averaged 12.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game before leaving early in the game of the crushing defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers. Five days later, the seven-time All-Star-nominated big man announced his retirement due to an irregular heartbeat.
Now "(It's a) feeling of excitement," he said during Saturday's net training session. "The excitement, you know, here I can change my story instead of letting those few nights decide my career and be able to get back there and try to help this team win."
Aldridge became one of the league's premier bigest scorers in Portland, where he averaged 19.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, making him the Trail Blazers' main offensive choice for playoff competition. His career took a turn for the worse in San Antonio under legendary coach Gregg Popovich, who struggled to adapt to spurs offense early in his tenure as he nearly asked himself to be traded for delays in integrating into the team. However, Aldridge improved his scoring and efficiency at the Spurs, improving his three-point shooting percentage to 33.8 percent at the Spurs. In Brooklyn, he hit four of his first five three-pointers before leaving the game indefinitely. "He's 49 points away from 20,000 points, and I thought, damn it, I wish he could get that honor," said Nets star forward Kevin Durant, who shares Aldridge's alma mater, both of whom played for the Texas Longhorns. "So he comes back to us and he's likely to get there at the start of the season and I'm looking forward to working with him. It's nice to see him play again. "I've known La Marcus for a long time and he loves basketball. He loves being with these guys and I'm excited about him. ”
During a March 31 game between the Blazers and Clippers, he experienced dizziness and a rapid heartbeat. According to the Mayo Clinic, doctors later diagnosed Aldridge with Wolf-Parkinson-White syndrome, a situation in which there was an extra electrical pathway between the upper and lower chambers of the heart, causing a rapid heartbeat. Aldridge left the game against the Clippers and ended his season that night. Soon after, he underwent a minor surgery on his heart. However, these problems persisted, and he underwent another heart surgery in 2011. Years later, Aldridge erupted into a clash with the Spurs, telling team staff that he "felt a little strange" during his March 2017 game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. However, Aldridge's desire to play basketball has never wavered. After retiring in Brooklyn, he entered the healing process, focusing on the quality of life. But when he let his body move more rigorously, his desire to return to the pitch was burned out. "I tried to convince him not to do that," Nets general manager Sean Max said at the end of the free agency market. "I said, 'Why?' You don't need this? Why are you coming back? I think it's important to get healthy. "After he cleared these [faults], the experts gave him the green light, which he accepted himself; he was trying to get back. I think that's what you like to see in the players, they want to be here. And he knows exactly what's at stake, it's his last team and he wants to be a part of it.
Without star guard Kyrie Owen, whose vaccination status has prevented him from playing or training with the team, the Nets will seek to make up for the 27 points lost per game. Aldridge said no one on the team would take on the big thing of replacing Irving alone, but after the Big Three, he was the team's second-highest-scoring player in the past five seasons. In the 2018 and 19 seasons, he averaged 23 and 21 points per game for the Spurs, respectively, and was notable for his delicacy of the technique in the locker room and on the practice field. "He's a pro. He's a super pro," the Nets' four-time All-Star player Paul Millsap said after the San Diego training camp. "When he comes on, he does his job. He didn't miss a week. He had a great week of training. Since his sudden retirement last season, Aldridge's tortuous journey has eliminated all the reasons he felt nervous as he entered his first regular season game. Facing defending champion the Milwaukee Bucks — a team that challenges his body with brute force and speed, attacking paint and rebounds — the Nets' veteran big man gladly accepted the task at hand. Aldridge said with a smile. "I'll take on this task all day. I'm an inside player. Loves physical contact and rebounding, sounds good to me. ”
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