Orlando Magic veteran forward Al-Farouq Aminu has recently opened up about his summer move away from the Portland Trail Blazers — the team that he had spent the past four seasons with.
According to Aminu, it wasn't actually that hard parting ways with his former team simply because most of the guys he had grown close to had also already left.
“Kinda sorta,” Al-Farouq Aminu told Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype. It was [tough] because I’m leaving the guys I was playing with, but a lot of the guys ended up leaving anyway, so it was kind of like, ‘Well, nobody is there.' Not ‘nobody,' but you know what I mean. The gang’s not even there anymore anyway, so it wouldn’t have been the same even if I had stayed. It would’ve been weird had I stayed.”
Aminu went on to say that to him, loyalty is built more with teammates, and not to the team itself.
“It’s not the organization, it’s the people that you get to work with every day that you end up [getting close with]. For a couple of months, you see these guys and talk to these guys even more than your family. They shape you and you’re growing with each other. Then, the next thing you know, they may not be there. Sometimes, it’s just one person; like, I remember the first time it was Ed [Davis]. Me and him came into Portland together and we became really cool. Then, after three years, he was gone and that was tough. Then, I started becoming really cool with Moe [Harkless] and Evan [Turner] and now they’re gone, so it’s like man… It’s kind of already tough to make friends in this industry anyway and then guys move on. And you still get to talk to them and stay close, but it’s different. But I think that’s why it isn’t as traumatic because those guys are in different places anyway, so the gang is gone.”
This is definitely a pretty interesting perspective presented by Aminu here. It is worth noting that throughout his 10-year career, the 29-year-old has been with no less than five different NBA teams. His four-year stint with the Blazers was the longest he had stayed in a single team for, which explains why he was able to build some considerable personal relationships during his time there.
In terms of his basketball, though, Aminu has seen his role with the Magic decrease as compared to previous years. Right now, the former eighth overall pick is averaging just 19.7 minutes per contest (his lowest in the past five seasons), putting up just 4.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per ballgame.
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