The Spurs staff refused to hear a no from LaMarcus Aldridge and in the end, they got the player that they wanted.
LaMarcus Aldridge was the talk of town when it came to this year’s NBA free agency. Just about every team had something to offer to him but it was the persistence of the Spurs that may have caught his eye. It all came down to two teams: Phoenix and San Antonio. Spurs assistant coach Ime Udoka wasn’t going to leave the plane without hearing a yes. He literally refused to get off the plane till hearing the magical words that he wanted to hear from Aldridge.
“It (the meeting process) was done. I was down to two teams, Phoenix and the Spurs. I thought [Udoka] was staying in San Antonio for the summer, so I was like, ‘Hey, I’ve got a jet going to Dallas. You could get a flight from Dallas to San Antonio [to head home].’ So he was like, ‘Cool.’ So he gets on the jet, and I’m like, ‘We’re leaving. You should buy your flight [to San Antonio from Dallas] on the plane. Go buy your flight.’ He was like, ‘I ain’t buying no flight.’ I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ He’s like, ‘I live [in Los Angeles] right now. I’m flying just to answer any questions that you have.’ I was like, ‘Man, you’re crazy.’ I said, ‘Get off the plane.’ He said, ‘No, I’m going to answer any question that you have.’ So I’m like, ‘You don’t have to do this. Don’t do this.’ He’s like, ‘Nah, I’m not getting off.’
So we rode – and I had my kids with me and my mom – so they sat in the front of the plane and him and I went to the back of the plane and talked the whole flight…. He was just telling me, ‘We need a guy to score down there. Tim [Duncan] is older, and we need a guy to command a double team down there.’ So I was like, ‘Maybe I’m not a Spur, because I’ve been averaging 23 for the last three to four years, and maybe I don’t fit into y’all’s system of let’s all average 17.’ And he was like, ‘No, we’re not trying to change who you are and make you average 16 or 17. We want you to be you, because you’re going to help us be better and vice versa.’ He kind of reaffirmed that they didn’t want to change me.’”
We’re sure that Aldridge is happy with his choice but it’s wonderful to see how Udoka was so persistent and wanted him to be a Spur.