LaMarcus Aldridge says he was 'very close' to joining the Suns
The story has been told. But with LaMarcus Aldridge and the Spurs in Phoenix to hand the Suns their 14th loss in their last 15 games, it was worth wondering again just how close his free agent decision was, and it was worth hearing it from the man himself.
“It was very close,” said Aldridge, via AZCentral.com. “It came down to the final minute, to the final day of me trying to make a decision of coming here or going to San Antonio.”
The reason the Suns were even in the conversation was because of a shrewd series of moves that were specifically targeted to win Aldridge's heart. They surprised him by walking into their free agent meeting with a newly-signed Tyson Chandler, and hired Earl Watson as an assistant coach, who is a former teammate of Aldridge's and a close personal friend.
But Aldridge is from Texas, and those personal ties, along with getting to play for the most consistently successful team in the entire league, were ultimately too appealing to pass up.
