USA TODAY Sports
When LaMarcus Aldridge made his decision to head for the Alamo, joining the San Antonio Spurs organization that had sold him on the chance to be the post-Tim Duncan torch bearer, the people he left behind in Portland were more confused than surprised.
If being The Man was so important like they'd all been led to believe, then why go to a place where Duncan's shadow is arguably longer and more imposing than any that came before, and where another young star, Kawhi Leonard, has already been deemed their centerpiece of the future?