LaMarcus Aldridge Wanted More Minutes in the All-Star Game

For second-tier NBA stars, getting enough minutes in the mid-season showcase is almost always an issue. Just ask LaMarcus Aldridge, per CSNNW: “… the Portland Trail Blazers forward didn’t see a lot of action in his first All-Star appearance and I wanted to know if this was by design. So, I asked LaMarcus Aldridge if he expected to play more out there tonight. ‘Definitely, eight minutes or nine minutes? Aldridge said. ‘I thought I was going to play more. ‘Eight or nine minutes?’ It’s fine though.’ Aldridge played sparingly tallying 9 minutes of action and didn’t play in the first and third quarter. He says the last time he played in a limited role was when he was backing up Zach Randolph. ‘I haven’t played that amount of minutes in a long time,’ Aldridge said. ‘But it’s an All-Star game and it’s my first time, so I guess that’s how it go.’ Aldridge openly expressed his displeasure with being left off the All-Star squad last year, and he finally gets there and is forced to watch for the most part. Oklahoma City Thunder’s coach Scott Brooks, side-stepped my question when I asked him about the lack of minutes for Aldridge. ‘He’s in elite select company to be one of the 12 All-Stars,’ Brooks said. ‘This is his first time of probably many. I thought his minutes were played hard and played well.'”