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Brooklyn Nets big man LaMarcus Aldridge shockingly announced his retirement Thursday morning after dealing with an irregular heartbeat in his last game. Nets general manager Sean Marks released a statement shortly after Aldridge's announcement, voicing the franchise's full support of the decision.
Via the Nets:
Statement from our GM Sean Marks on the retirement of LaMarcus Aldridge: pic.twitter.com/3WKRJgAmpn
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) April 15, 2021
Brooklyn just recently signed Aldridge after he was bought out by the San Antonio Spurs. With the additions of Aldridge and Blake Griffin to the superstar trio of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving, the Nets were a ridiculously loaded squad (they still are, of course) in terms of pure big-name talent, even with Aldridge and Griffin not carrying the same cache as in their primes.
While the 35-year-old LaMarcus Aldridge wasn't the player he used to be, Brooklyn was hoping he would provide quality depth in the frontcourt alongside Griffin. In five games played with the Nets, Aldridge averaged 12.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 26.0 minutes per game. With Aldridge out of the picture, youngster Nicolas Claxton will surely be asked to step up.
As tough as this decision had to be for LaMarcus Aldridge, he's making it with his long-term health and family in mind. It takes a lot of courage to do something like this after playing at such a high level for so many years, and let's hope he'll be okay moving forward.
The Nets will have to shake this off and refocus on their championship quest. Brooklyn holds a 37-18 record this season, which is good for second in the Eastern Conference behind the Philadelphia 76ers.
