Last summer’s free agency period was dominated, at least in part, by LaMarcus Aldridge. Although the big man and former Trail Blazer eventually decided to join the San Antonio Spurs, he had meetings with several other teams. In fact, his first meeting, immediately after free agency began, was with the Los Angeles Lakers. Since then, much has been said about the meeting, and the subsequent sequel, mostly in regards to the Lakers’ inability to sign the star power forward.
While blame for this ineptitude has been placed on many throughout the Lakers’ organization, much of it has been put on the shoulders of Kobe Bryant. In an interview with Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, Aldridge put those rumors to bed:
“Kobe was the best part of the meeting,” Aldridge told Yahoo Sports. “I’ve known Kobe for years, living out in Newport Beach. He knows my kids. I’ve seen him with his daughters. We’ve always had a cordial relationship. I was kind of mad about how it got spun around that it was him that I had problems with – when he was actually the best part of it.”
This is certainly interesting after rumors that Bryant’s behavior in the meeting was the reason behind Aldridge deciding not to go to LA. The initial talk was that Bryant had insinuated that Aldridge would be his sidekick on the Lakers as they attempted to win championships, but that now seems unlikely. Aldridge did mention what his ultimate displeasure in regards to the Lakers meeting was:
For most of the first hour, polished business vice presidents and AEG officials and Times Warner television executives and marketers delivered corporate platitudes and clichés. Several times, Aldridge asked questions, pushing for the direction that he wanted to steer the presentation – only the Lakers never veered from the script. What Aldridge wanted out of these meetings was to engage in a high-minded basketball discussion – on his role, on winning and the franchise’s plans. Everyone else seemed to understand that, except the Lakers.
“I was trying to ask more basketball-related questions,” Aldridge told Yahoo Sports. “I just had things that I wanted to know, to understand, on the basketball side. I get why they did what they did, coming from a small market, going to L.A., a whole different world, and they just wanted me to know about that world. I did try to bring it back toward basketball a couple times.”
This is the type of outlook that the Lakers have had in recent years. Due to the lack of success on the basketball court, they have resorted to attempting to woo free agents with the lure of Los Angeles and the big market that comes with it. Unfortunately for them, that is no longer a major advantage over other NBA cities and basketball players – believe it or not – tend to care more about basketball. Perhaps Aldridge’s public statements about the matter will force them to change their flawed strategy.
