According to ESPN on Monday, San Antonio Spurs center LaMarcus Aldridge of Dallas, Texas will miss the remainder of the 2019-20 National Basketball Association season with shoulder surgery. The injury is a huge blow to a Spurs team trying to make the NBA playoffs for the 23rd straight season.
Aldridge reportedly injured his shoulder initially in a 113-104 win over the Utah Jazz on February 21. In this contest, Aldridge had 15 points and eight rebounds in 34 minutes and 43 seconds of action. He then proceeded to play for the Spurs in their 131-103 blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on February 23, before missing six games. Aldridge then played 36 minutes and 56 seconds worth of action, and had 24 points in the Spurs’ 119-109 win over the Dallas Mavericks in San Antonio’s final game before the coronavirus shut down on March 10.
Just how valuable is Aldridge to the Spurs? In 53 games this season, he led the Spurs with 7.4 rebounds per game and 1.6 blocks per game. Aldridge was also able to limit his turnovers to 1.4 per game, making him a strong fan of Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich.
Aldridge was also second in Spurs scoring at 18.9 points per game. He was only behind DeMar DeRozan of Compton, California, who averaged 22.2 points per game. Aldridge had a field goal percentage of .493, a three-point percentage of .389, and free throw percentage of .827.
When the NBA hopes to return in late July in Walt Disney World in central Florida, the Spurs will be four games back of the Memphis Grizzlies for eighth place in the Western Conference. Their record is currently at 27 wins and 36 losses.
