LaMarcus Aldridge Sacrifices Stats For San Antonio Spurs, Still Makes NBA All Star Roster

San Antonio Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge made the tough decision last year to sacrifice his usually phenomenal stats for the sake of winning an NBA Championship by leaving the Portland Trailblazers, where he was the franchise player and offensive centerpiece, but he still ended up on the All-Star team, according to SB Nation.

When LaMarcus Aldridge decided that he was going to leave the Portland Trailblazers via free agency, he had plenty of suitors in the NBA, including the New York Knicks, who were looking for another superstar to pair up work Carmelo Anthony before Kristaps Porzingis showed tremendous potential.

After being wined and dined by several NBA teams for more than a week, LaMarcus Aldridge decided to sign with the San Antonio Spurs, mostly because the team has a long history of being able to build a roster that is capable of consistently challenging for the title on a yearly basis.

The San Antonio Spurs have long been a role model for NBA teams because their star players have been more than willing to sacrifice their personal agendas for the betterment of the team, such as guard Manu Ginobili being more than willing to be the sixth man when he could easily start for most franchises.

The sacrifice theme has been the mantra of the San Antonio Spurs since David Robinson, one of the best centers to ever play for the NBA, willingly stepped aside so that Tim Duncan, who actually lived with Robinson at one point during his rookie season, could take over as the franchise player.

One of the main reasons why LaMarcus Aldridge chose the San Antonio Spurs in free agency was because he was very confident that Tim Duncan, who really wants to win a sixth NBA Championship before he finally walks away from the game of basketball, would willingly make the same sacrifice for him.

Tim Duncan has more than willingly stepped aside for LaMarcus Aldridge, and he has even shifted to the center position, a distinction that he had famously avoided for years despite spending the majority of his time in the pivot since David Robinson retired from the NBA many moons ago.

Even with Tim Duncan stepping aside and playing second fiddle to Kawhi Leonard, who is one of the best two-way players in the NBA, LaMarcus Aldridge has seen his scoring average dip to 15 points per game, which is much less than when he was averaging more than 20 points a game as the Portland Trailblazers franchise player.

Since his averages were the middle of the pack by NBA standards, many were under the assumption that LaMarcus Aldridge would not make the All-Star team, but coaches decided to still vote him in as a reserve, quite possibly because they wanted to reward the San Antonio Spurs for being one of the top two teams in the league, along with the Golden State Warriors.

Once Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan retire, which is more likely to take place if the San Antonio Spurs overcome the Golden State Warriors and win the NBA Championship this April, LaMarcus Aldridge should see his statistics return to his Portland Trailblazers level, which would make him a perennial candidate for the All-Star team again.

At that point in time, the San Antonio Spurs would be built around Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge, and overachieving role players that Gregg Popovich seemingly finds every year, which means that the team would still win the majority of their games and compete for the NBA title.

By being able to compete for the NBA Championship and an All-Star spot every year, LaMarcus Aldridge will have made one of the best career decisions ever by joining the winning atmosphere of the San Antonio Spurs.

[Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images]