After LaMarcus Aldridge signed his four-year, $80 million contract with the Spurs in July, there were reports that San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich's assurance that he'd remain on the bench until 2019 helped close the deal. It turns out, though, that it was the actions of Spurs assistant coach Ime Udoka that assured the Spurs would land the offseason's top free agent.
LaMarcus Aldridge signed with the Spurs because of one of their assistant coaches
Forget Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan. It was 38-year-old assistant Ime Udoka who played the biggest role in netting San Antonio the top free agent of the offseason.
“Ime got the deal done,” Aldridge said in an interview with USA Today’s Sam Amick. “Pop (indicating that he’d remain the coach in the coming years) was very important to me, but Ime put in a lot of work on that.”
Udoka and Aldridge’s relationship goes back to the 2006-07 season, his lone in Portland and Aldridge’s first in the league. According to Aldridge, the two formed a strong bond that year and have remained close ever since.
“Even when he left to go to the Spurs, when we played against them we still hung out and he would get me into the practice facility so I could get in the cold tub,” Aldridge said in the interview with USA Today. “He has always been really cool with me, and I thought he played a vital part in this. If I had questions, I would call him.”
Udoka, now 38, spent fours season with the Spurs, from 2007-08 to 2010-11. After that, he spent a year playing with UCAM Murcia of Spain’s ACB League and a year later was offered a position on Popovich’s staff.
This summer, he apparently took the role as lead recruiter in the Spurs’ pursuit of Aldridge. According to Aldridge, it was Udoka who swayed him when the former Trail Blazer was strongly considering signing with the Phoenix Suns.
Udoka even pulled a Blake Griffin-type stunt with Aldridge following the Spurs’ meeting with him in Los Angeles. Afterwards, Udoka accompanied Aldridge on his flight home to Dallas and refused to leave until he assuaged every concern Aldridge had, most notably Aldridge’s concerns that he’d struggle to mesh with the Spurs’ egalitarian system.
“It wasn’t really a lot of questions,” Aldridge told Amick. “It was just him telling me how I’m going to fit in.”
If the Spurs find themselves holding up the Larry O’Brien trophy next season, they’ll have Ime Udoka to thank.
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