LaMarcus Aldridge named to the All-NBA Second-Team

It was quite a turnaround for a man who wanted out just 10 months ago.

Spurs starting big man LaMarcus Aldridge has been named to the All-NBA second team. Here is the Spurs’ official press release:

The NBA today announced that San Antonio Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge has been named to the league’s All-NBA Second Team. The honor marks his fifth career All-NBA selection. Aldridge also earned Second Team honors in 2015, while being selected to the Third Team in 2011, 2014 and 2016.

Aldridge is one of just seven players in the league to be named to an All-NBA team at least five times since 2011, along with Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, James Harden, LeBron James, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook.

Selected as an All-Star for the sixth time in his career, Aldridge averaged 23.1 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.20 blocks in 33.4 minutes while shooting .510 (687-1,347) from the floor and .837 (334-399) from the free throw line during the 2017-18 season. The 12-year veteran was the only Spur to average at least 12 points while appearing in more than 10 games, making San Antonio the first team to make the NBA Playoffs with only one player averaging 12-or-more points since the 1953-54 Minneapolis Lakers (George Mikan).

Aldridge scored double figures in 73 games, leading the team in scoring 59 times. The former Texas Longhorn is one of only five Spurs in franchise history to lead the team in scoring at least 50 times in a single season, joining Tim Duncan, George Gervin, Kawhi Leonard and David Robinson.

The Spurs finished the 2017-18 season with a 47-35 record, marking the 21st consecutive season San Antonio has had a winning record, the longest streak by any team in NBA history. The Silver and Black reached the playoffs for the 21st straight season, which is tied for the second-best streak in NBA history and is the longest active streak in the four major U.S. sports.

This marks the 21st consecutive season the Spurs have had a player named to an All-NBA Team, the league’s longest active streak. A Spur has now been named to an All-NBA Team 44 times in franchise history, which includes 21 First Team selections, 12 Second Team selections and 11 Third Team selections. Aldridge is the seventh player in Spurs history to receive multiple All-NBA selections, along with Duncan, Gervin, Manu Ginobili, Leonard, Tony Parker and Robinson.

After a let-down 2016-17 season in which he dealt with both heart and knee issues, as well as feeling misused in the Spurs’ system, Aldridge did a complete 180-turn from requesting a trade last summer to being the bread-and-butter of an injury-depleted Spurs team this season.

Despite only getting nine games out of Kawhi Leonard, the Spurs still managed to make the playoffs largely thanks to the effort Aldridge put forth all season long. If only there was a “Turnaround of the Year” award . . . checks . . . nope. Too bad, because he would have earned it.

Source: Pounding The Rock