Following Monday’s beatdown by the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge shunned the world by deleting his Twitter and Instagram accounts. Amazingly, Gregg Popovich still has a job today, but many more heads were turning to the news of Aldridge eradicating his social media accounts. No doubt, some pretty harsh things were being tweeted to him during and after the game, especially after posting just five points and three rebounds on 2-of-9 shooting in one of the biggest games of the season to date. So, it’s not surprising that Aldridge would want to stay away from social media. But, to completely delete two accounts? While it may not seem like a big deal on the surface, it should serve as a warning sign to the Spurs as to the fragile emotional state of their most prized offseason pickup. One that Blazer fans know all too well about.
Aldridge is not the head case, nor the disruptive personality, of say, a DeMarcus Cousins. No, Aldridge has a much more passive aggressive way of dealing with conflicts. While Cousins would just as soon punch you in the stomach for offending him, Aldridge would rather ignore your phone calls and hide behind the couch if you came knocking on his door.
While in Portland, making Aldridge feel special was always a one-way street. Even as he was praised and adored here in the Rose City, he often felt slighted by the very same organization that showered him with praise and money. He was the third wheel in the Roy-Oden-Aldridge experiment. He became the Robin to Damian Lillard’s Batman heroics. He seemed to quietly curse the team for always putting him second, which was odd, because Aldridge never seemed to want to be the main guy in the first place. He was often cold, moody and didn’t exactly go out for beers with his teammates. After the Game 2 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies in last year’s playoffs, Aldridge took his own plane back to Portland, separating himself from his teammates. It’s not something a team leader would do, but it is something a perfectly passive aggressive Aldridge would do to display his disapproval.
Which is why the next few months of the regular season and heading into the playoffs is going to be so interesting. While Aldridge is not “The Guy” in San Antonio, the burden to win will be more than he ever experienced in Portland. How will he deal with the mounting media pressure as the months go by? How will he deal with the fallout if the Spurs lose a playoff game and he has a night like he had Monday? As Kawhi Leonard continues to rocket into the superstar stratosphere, how will Aldridge handle his ascent just as Damian Lillard ascended before him in Portland? If past experiences are any indicator, the answers may not be what the Spurs want to hear.
Certainly, Aldridge has shown he can rise to the occasion. He bounced back just fine last night with a 25 point, 10 rebound effort in a blowout win against the Houston Rockets. And speaking of the Rockets, who can forget his first two games of the 2014 playoffs? He scored 46 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in Game 1, followed by 43 points and 10 rebounds in Game 2, both in Houston. Aldridge was a monster for much of that first round, but it was against a Rockets team where defense is still an alien terminology.
In Round 2, against a much more formidable foe in the Spurs, Aldridge returned to Earth. He scored 32 in the opener, but faded away, as the Blazers did, the rest of the series. Though he wasn’t terrible, not by a long shot, he wasn’t nearly the unstoppable force as he was against a much weaker defense. Round 2, 2014 Aldridge is what the Spurs will be getting for the majority of the playoffs this year if they continue to advance, which isn’t a bad thing. But, Aldridge doesn’t have that Kobe gene, or even that Duncan gene, that can carry a team to the next level unless the opponent’s defense lays down the red carpet. That is why, for all the sulking he did about it in Portland, Aldridge was never seriously considered to be the number one guy on the Blazers.
San Antonio should be the perfect fit for Aldridge. There, he doesn’t have to be the number one option. Kawhi will probably be that guy for the Spurs for years to come, while Aldridge can be an above average number two. But, even if Aldridge knows that’s probably best for him, you wonder if he will let it happen. Clearly, being second fiddle in Portland was not enough. If Aldridge is going to win a championship with the Spurs, he will have to make peace with being a sidekick without resorting to some bitter, passive aggressive actions that could derail the team.
Aldridge can be like that guy who shows up to a party where everyone is dancing and having fun, but as soon as he walks through the door, he sees the girl he has a crush on talking to some other guy, so he just goes to the corner and pouts in front of the cheese dip the whole time. While the rest of the party goers try to have a good time, they can’t help but notice and wonder what’s wrong with him, bringing the party down ever so slightly as to alter the experience for everyone in the room. The Spurs will have to somehow manage how to handle Aldridge when he gets in one of his moods, especially come playoff time if things don’t go rosy for all four rounds. While he may not shout at coaches or punch players in the gut, Aldridge seems to have his own way of disrupting a locker room, quietly.
So, while deleting a couple of social media accounts shouldn’t be seen as a big deal, you can’t help but wonder if the Spurs should be more concerned about Aldridge’s emotional state. We had to deal with it for nine years in Portland and we never could truly figure it out. San Antonio has had Aldridge for less than a year. But, this is the San Antonio Spurs we are talking about, one of the best run organizations in the league, a slice of franchise heaven players seem to love playing for. If anyone can figure it out, the Spurs can. But, Aldridge is a tough case to crack. With their title hopes hinging on how well he will play come playoff time, the Spurs better hope that Aldridge is in a good place emotionally, or he will quietly crush their dreams.
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