The former Spurs big man believes Leonard just wanted to play basketball and not partake in Popovich’s real-world teachings.
SAN ANTONIO — LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard teamed up with the San Antonio Spurs for a few seasons before the dramatic exit between Leonard and San Antonio.
So he might know what could have led to the split and he shared that with Showtime’s “All The Smoke Show” hosted by Matt Barnes and ex-Spur Stephen Jackson.
Barnes brought up the topic of Leaonrd’s exit which caused Aldridge to laugh.
He proceeded to give his opinion on the tense situation and believed that ultimately Leonard just wanted to play basketball and not be immersed in coach Gregg Popovich’s real-world teachings.
“When somebody’s ready to go, they ready to go,” said Aldridge. “(Expletive) was going back and forth with them but we didn’t know what was going on.”
“I ain’t going to speak for nobody but he didn’t want to do all the other (expletive) that Pop did too. Like the learning. He just wants to hoop. Everybody don’t want to learn what’s in Africa. Learn the maps and he just wanted to hoop. I ain’t saying that’s right or wrong but he just didn’t want to do that.”
Jackson added that he understood why Leonard wanted out of the Spurs because he, like Leonard, wanted to just play isolation ball and not run other Spurs plays.
In addition, Barnes and Jackson spoke about how Tony Parker publicly stated how he returned from injury faster than Leonard which left the former Spur feeling that the franchise didn’t have his back in public.
Interestingly, this led to Aldridge ignoring their statements and trying to get out of that topic completely and not comment on Parker’s past comments.
“Even when you’re there, certain (expletive) is never told to everybody, some (expletive) stays behind closed doors,” said Aldridge.
What do you have to say Spurs fans? Let us know on X at @KENS5 and @JeffGSpursKENS5.
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