Unfortunate. Glad he will now prioritize family and I hope he lives a full and healthy life. I’m not one for suggesting Portland retire his number, etc. He left. And the way he left hurt the franchise. Let the Spurs retire his number...or the Nets.... He should have stayed - oh well.
LaMarcus Aldridge put up some of the best numbers in our franchise's history and I hope he has a great retirement but the idea that he would be the best Blazers player of all time was laughable when he said it. I credit him with contributing to winning and putting up some great numbers while doing it. I'm glad he got to have a career as long as he did. When he was diagnosed with his heart issues during his rookie year I worried that it would cut his career short but obviously he had longevity. Fourteen plus NBA seasons is a great run. With his retirement maybe some of us that still do can stop thinking about what might have been if Oden, Roy and Aldridge would have been able to play together, healthy, for an extended period of time. He outlasted them both. He played the fifth most games of all time for our team. He is the franchise's all time leading rebounder and likely will be for quite some time. We all wished that he was a guy with a different attitude to go with all of his gifts and skills but he was our guy for a good period of time. I wished he'd left us under different circumstances... this isn't just an opportunity to get in a dig on Neil but it's still inexcusable to lose a player after nine seasons and third in a row as an all star for nothing. Letting LaMarcus walk at the height of his career, averaging 23 and 10 while showing off his three point range for the first time, without a mid-season trade for some value is terrible. I don't blame LaMarcus, that was his decision... just like it was his decision to not give the team any guarantees that he was staying. I never disliked Aldridge for any of his perceived shortcomings for our team and again I'm both appreciative for his contributions to the organization and hope he has a great post playing life.
All class. That's what we've got with Dame. Do I agree that we should retire LaMarcus's number? I don't think I do but that's Dame. Undying loyalty and while some of you can look at it as a flaw, if he is surrounded by the right people (Coaching, GM and players) it's an unbelievable strength.
Gah I don't know about retiring the number. Did he do enough? Honestly, if you put LMAs number up there you gotta put Roy up there. Roy did more for this franchise in many levels than LMA ever did. Lma helped on the court a lot... but Roy changed the entire culture.
Absolutely not. I wouldn't retire Roy or Aldridge. Roy was just here too short of a time, Aldridge left us high and dry to greener pastures when we could have been competing in Dame's prime. I'd retire Jerome Kersey before either of them.
I'm not disagreeing with you. I was just giving a reason pretty much as to why we shouldn't be retiring his number.
It really was. It was both rhythmic and cyclical. It was the same two movements. Lol. Maybe he had a verse going on in his head?
Bro he told Olshey in his face don’t trade me I’m resigning. Then he told the media it’s a foregone conclusion I’m resigning and want to be a Blazer for life. So Olshey should have said “fuck that”?
When did he say that? I don't remember him making assurances to the team that he would re-sign. I remember him telling the media that he wanted to retire as the greatest blazer ever, but I also remember the year or two prior that he had essentially asked for a trade.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 15, 2021 Statement from Neil Olshey on the retirement of LaMarcus Aldridge “LaMarcus had a storied NBA career and his time as a Trail Blazer will always be remembered fondly. Any success we experienced during his tenure in Portland would not have been possible without his work ethic, dedication and talent. During his nine seasons in Portland, LaMarcus battled through multiple injuries and health concerns but never once allowed them to affect his commitment to his teammates and coaches on the court or the people that benefited from his outreach in the community off the court. He will go down as one of the best players in the history of the franchise and while it is sad to see his career cut short, he will always be a member of the Trail Blazer family and we wish him the best in all future endeavors.”
I don't really understand why people are acting like LMA is 25 or something. He's 35 and he's clearly on the tail end of his career. How long did people think he was going to play? 40? If his knees had been the reason he retired, would people be saying his career was cut short? Roy's career was cut short. Aldridge had a long career.
The Blazer for life shit was when he was saying he was going to sign an extension. After he decided not to, it was all about his options and other than that... crickets. You should look this shit up before you make an argument man. This is how people in here kill their credibility.