Report: Aldridge's 'best Blazer ever' comments were Neil Olshey's idea
LaMarcus Aldridge said he wanted to be the best Blazer ever last summer. Did he mean it?
•
1 min read
On July 8, 2014, the Oregonian published a story by Joe Freeman titled, "LaMarcus Aldridge pledges to sign contract with Trail Blazers next summer, says he wants to be 'the best Blazer ever.'" In it, Aldridge tells Freeman that he will not sign a contract extension, but that is purely for financial reasons. On July 4, 2015, the Oregonian added an update at the top of the story: "LaMarcus Aldridge will sign with Spurs."
At face value, this is funny, but it also makes Aldridge look pretty bad. He declared as publicly as possible that he was going to stay, and then, less than a year later, he went back on his word. This is the kind of thing that fans have trouble forgiving, but perhaps Aldridge isn't the one who deserves their ire. BlazersEdge's Dave Deckard reported that those comments were Portland general manger Neil Olshey's idea:
"This was not the situation," the source tells Blazer's Edge. "Olshey wanted Aldridge to sign an extension badly. Aldridge was reluctant. He was not sure he wanted to play in Portland and he told Olshey he wouldn't extend. Olshey knew it would look bad and wouldn't help Aldridge, the team, or his own image. He asked Aldridge to call Freeman and tell him those things to keep the pressure off. This was premeditated, set up by Neil."
If this is true, that's an awful plan from Olshey. Of course, Aldridge shouldn't have agreed to anything like that, but still. Blazers fans would have a very different perception of this saga if that pledge was never made. If this story gains steam, perhaps they won't be as angry at Aldridge as they are now. Both parties involved will definitely need to address this.
