As the Nets come to grips with LaMarcus Aldridge’s all-too-brief tenure being cut short when he retired because of an irregular heartbeat, their first thoughts are for his health — and that the situation could have been worse. Far worse.
But as the games keep coming (the Nets hosted the Hornets on Friday night), their thoughts will have to turn to the inevitable question: What’s next?
“It’s a sad situation,” coach Steve Nash said. “Most importantly, though, he avoided a terrible situation.
“You feel sad for him that he’s not playing, but you feel happy that he made a sound decision and is comfortable with his decision and that he can be healthy and have a great life with his family. That’s more important than basketball. So, we really just are grateful for his time here, but are grateful that he’s at home with his family and that he can decide what’s next for him.”
What’s next for the Nets is they’ll suddenly have to move forward without him.
Aldridge — who was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome as a rookie in 2007, and underwent multiple cardiac ablations — felt an irregular heartbeat on April 10 and retired Thursday.
“I sympathize with LaMarcus. This obviously was not an easy decision for him,” said general manager Sean Marks in his first comments to the Nets’ beat reporters since the January deal for James Harden.
Aldridge had started five straight games and supplanted DeAndre Jordan in the lineup. The Nets started Nic Claxton on Tuesday at Minnesota and went with Jordan on Wednesday in Philadelphia and again Friday. Jeff Green has also started for the Nets, while Blake Griffin has played some small-ball five.
Expect to see more mixing and matching.
“It’s more matchup-based for us,” Nash said. “I don’t think it makes sense to just pencil something in if the matchups aren’t more favorable for us. When you look at our fives — DJ, Nic, Blake [Griffin], Jeff — they all bring something different. They all have a different profile.
“That’s to our advantage to mix and match on a night-to-night matchup basis. It gives us what could be a perceived advantage or the lesser of two evils when you face some superstars. That’s probably the way we approach things continually.”
While Jordan hasn’t spoken to the media since March 13 and has declined a dozen interview requests, Nash called the center “a great teammate” in how he handled losing his starting spot.
“DJ has been great,” Nash said. “I asked him to be patient with me. I didn’t say, ‘This is it. You’re not playing anymore.’ Because something always comes up.”
Nash was proven prescient, with Jordan starting the past two games. The Nets are expected to waive Aldridge and fill that roster spot, but Marks implied they’d like to get some injured players back before deciding where to add.
“We’ll look at every alternative and everybody out there. Losing a player like LaMarcus is without a doubt a blow to us,” Marks said. “It’s a quandary. You can’t replace LaMarcus. You’re not going to find another LaMarcus just sitting out there.
“Once James [Harden] gets back into the fold, Kevin [Durant’s] minutes come back up and we get a couple of other guys healthy, then we’ll have a better idea of what we need. I don’t think it’s set in stone that we have to go one way or another, a big or a guard. We’ll look at where our needs are over the next week and make that determination.”
Even if Aldridge never again puts on a Nets uniform, they hope he’ll rejoin them someday, in the locker room, at practice, wherever and whenever.
“He had conversations with the guys via phone,” Marks said. “He’s always welcome to be around. What he’s done over the course of his career, just from an IQ standpoint he can help and we can obviously benefit from having him in the locker room and around. The door’s 100 percent open for him whenever he wants.
“He’s seeing some specialists right now, and the priority is for him to really take advantage of this time and prioritize his health over anything else. When he’s available, yes we’ll welcome him back and hopefully he’ll come around.”
