LaMarcus Aldridge asked for a trade last summer, a first for Gregg Popovich

LaMarcus Aldridge requested a trade from the San Antonio Spurs this summer, head coach Gregg Popovich revealed, saying it was the first time in his 21-year coaching career that it had happened. While Popovich is usually known for his crotchety nature toward bad questions and total disregard for sideline interviews, he can sometimes be more revealing about his job than maybe any other head coach in the league.

In this moment before Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Popovich was exactly that. Asked about Aldridge’s resurgence and what prompted it, Popovich replied with unprecedented honesty.

“When he said, ‘I want to be traded,’” Popovich told reporters. “It’s as simple as that. I said, ‘Woah, nobody’s ever said that to me before.’ It’s my 20-whatever year, and nobody’s ever said that like, ‘I’m not enjoying this. I’m not confident. I’m not sure you want me here. I want to be traded.’”

Popovich was asked a follow-up question about the situation and replied by saying this:

“Yes, yes. I thought that’s already been public? So, we had some dinners and meetings and laughed. I was very candid with him. I told him, ‘I’d be happy to trade you. You get me a talent like Kevin Durant, and I’ll drive you to the airport. I’ll pack your bags. And I will drive you there, get you on the plane, and get you seated.’ He laughed you know, that kind of thing. I said, ‘But short of that, I’m your best buddy because you’re here for another year, and you ain’t going nowhere. Because we’re not gonna get for you talent-wise what we would want. So, let’s figure this thing out.’ And we did. That’s what we came to. As discussions went on, it became apparent to me that it really was me. He’s been playing in the league for nine years. I’m not going to turn him into some other player. I could do some things defensively or rebounding-wise. But on offense, I was going to move him everywhere. That was just silly on my part. Total overcoaching. So, we took care of it, and he’s been fantastic.”

This season, Aldridge is a likely Western Conference All-Star while averaging 22.6 points per game and 8.7 rebounds on 49.6 percent shooting from the floor.

The details between Popovich and Aldridge’s relationship, and even Popovich’s admission of overcoaching, have been circulating all season. We knew that Popovich and Aldridge met frequently over the summer for the 32-year-old veteran to feel more at home within the Spurs system.

Up until this moment, we had never specifically heard that Aldridge was fed up enough to ask for a trade. It’s amazing both that it came to that and that Aldridge is the first player who has ever requested one from Popovich. It makes sense, though — almost everything that the Spurs touch turns to gold (or, perhaps, silver and black) and the team is far and away the winningest in the league since Popovich took over in 1996.

It’s neat that Popovich feels willing to admit things like this so freely, and it’s a testament to his coaching ability that he was able to work things out with Aldridge and turn him into the player he has been for San Antonio this season.