Q&A: LaMarcus Aldridge

Courtesy of Mike Richman

What changed in the last two days?

Just being able to do some things with the basketball and having it braced. I think my pain level changed a lot over the last 48 hours as far as being able to tolerate some things. I feel like we'll give it a try. We don't know if it's going to go good or bad, but I think at least we can try. 

Are you going to play the rest of the season? Or will you just see how much you can tolerate?

My idea now is to play the rest of the season, but if it gets too much where I'm not playing at a very good level then I'll stop. But hopefully it goes well for us.

Did the last two games have an impact on your decision?

The last one definitely; it wasn't a good loss. With me not being out there and not having (Nicolas Batum) definitely hurts us even more. So I just wanted to do some things today. Things went well. And I did some things yesterday late and it felt decent so we feel like we have a little plan to wrap it and strap it in and we'll see. 

Did you seek any advice from anybody seeing if you should do this?

Just my doctor; the team doctor and my doctor in Cleveland. They both said there's no harm in giving it a shot. So I'm going to do it. 

Is that splint you're wearing now (a hard black splint covering his left thumb and half his palm) the one you're going to wear during the game?

It's different. This is too bulky. It's just basically the thumb part and it'll be taped down.

What did you do today at shootaround?

Just did shooting and I did one-on-one with Coach Nate (Tibbetts) just to go up and down. Just felt okay.

Is there still some pain?

Yeah there is, but I think it's something that I might be able to tolerate. So we'll see how it goes.

When you were discussing (the return) with the doctor, what was the biggest con to coming back?

Just that the joint won't be as healthy when it's repaired, but I'll still have full function of my thumb and it won't be anything too crazy. It's just that that ligament that I tore won't be as healthy to repair it would.

Like longterm?

Yeah. 

So if you get through the season you'd have the surgery in the summer?

Yeah. Offseason.

Were you concerned if you didn't come back the playoffs would be in jeopardy?

Naw. I'm not getting into that now. I'm just in the moment. The last game was a tough one and I did some things on my own to try to test it out and felt like those things ... they went well. I got the blessing of both doctors so I'm trying it out.

Before (on Thursday) you said the risk wasn't worth the reward. What did they tell you this time?

I couldn't move it. Over the last 48 hours the thumb has gotten a lot better. I had a lot of blood in there and I think all that's flushed out. Now they're looking at it different because I actually can move it, I actually can use it more now.

Did you have any other MRIs (magnetic resonance imaging tests)?

No. Just those two that I already had.

What was the response from your teammates?

They were happy, you know. Everybody was happy for me; that I'm going to give it a try. We don't know how it's going to go, but we'll see.