Suns’ Paul, Williams stunned by Aldridge’s sudden retirement
Chris Paul couldn’t stop shaking his head over his close friend, LaMarcus Aldridge, suddenly retiring from the NBA after being diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat.
“It’s tough, it’s tough,” Paul said after Phoenix’s 122-114 home win over Sacramento Thursday night. “I had a chance to talk with L.A. this morning and man, for a guy who is just a great guy, loves to hoop, loves to play and obviously you can look at the bright side of it that they found it, but it just puts a lot of things in perspective.”
Paul and Monty Williams have strong relationships with Aldridge, so the Suns point guard and head coach both were stunned by the news as Aldridge announced his decision Thursday morning on social media.
“I was shocked like everybody else, but also grateful that the situation was handled the way it should’ve been handled medically,” said Williams who was an assistant at Portland when Aldridge starred for the Trail Blazers. “It was caught and he was able to make a decision to walk away from the game and move on to the next chapter in his life with his family.”
Williams said the Suns had a quick talk about the news Thursday just to remind themselves about the importance of health and family in this NBA life.
“There are so many things you can lose sight of as you try to win games and all the stuff we try to do every day,” Williams said. “LaMarcus is one of our brothers and we just took time to kind of think about that and we have guys on our team that know LaMarcus. Chris is pretty close to him. It hit all of us pretty hard this morning when we got the news and then you just stop to think how grateful we are that they caught it and he’s able to make a decision to walk away and live a normal life going forward. I’m happy for him in that sense.”
Joining the Brooklyn Nets after being bought out by the San Antonio Spurs last month, Aldridge said he noticed his irregular heartbeat in what turned out to be the final game of his 15-year career Saturday against the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Later on that night, my rhythm got even worse, which really worried me even more,” Aldridge said in the statement. “The next morning, I told the team what was going on and they were great getting me to the hospital and getting me checked out. Though I’m better now, what I felt with my heart that night was still one of the scariest things I’ve experienced.”
At age 35, Aldridge found himself on a team with legitimate championship aspirations, but has chosen to step away from the game in his 15th NBA season.
“For 15 years, I put basketball first, and now, it is time to put my health and family first,” Aldridge continued in his statement.
A seven-time All-Star, the 6-11, 250pound Aldridge finished his career with 19,951 points and 8,478 rebounds.
“One of the best of our era,” said Kings coach Luke Walton before Thursday’s game as he played and coached against Aldridge.
“Before the game changed to what it is now where a lot of bigs are shooting (3s). He didn’t shoot a ton of 3s, but his ability to score from multiple levels and just what he did as a player was unbelievable. My heart goes out to him, but it seems like he’s got himself in a good place and understands what’s most important and that’s his health. He’s had a hell of a career and the NBA will miss him. He’s been a staple in this league for a long time and a very good representative of the league.”
The second overall pick in the 2006 draft out of Texas, Aldridge was a rookie when arriving in Portland where Williams was an assistant under Nate McMillan.
The two established a relationship that has continued over the years.
“I love him,” Williams said. “He’s like a little brother to me just because of our time in Portland and the turnaround up there was amazing and he was a huge part of that and so he had a huge impact on my life.”
The Blazers went to the playoffs five times with Aldridge playing a major role in going from 21-61 the season before he arrived to being 54-28 his third season there.
Aldridge left Portland to join the San Antonio Spurs as a free agent over the Suns in 2015.