Indeed, there is no preferential treatment for new power forward LaMarcus Aldridge even if he was considered as arguably the most valuable free agent this summer. The San Antonio Spurs successfully lured him to their squad and now he just got his first Gregg Popovich moment during the team's practice session on Tuesday.
The four-time All-Star, who was experiencing leg tightness before Tuesday's training began, insisted on practicing through the pain, but the ever imposing Coach Pop decided against it saying "Welcome to the Spurs. Go sit," as per Bleacher Report.
Aldridge, a nine-year veteran, is used to playing with minor injuries and sometimes even major ones. Last January, he put off surgery and played through a torn left thumb ligament until after Portland was eliminated by Memphis in the first round of the playoffs.
Surely, a simple leg muscle stiffness would not stop him from joining his teammates on the practice floor, wouldn't it?
But Popovich wants him to learn how injuries are managed "The San Antonio Way", as coined by Yahoo Sports' Kelly Dwyer, this early in his stint with the Spurs.
And so Aldridge, now 30 years old, should get used to diminished minutes or even whole game sit outs as is the custom of the multi-titled head coach to preserve his top players in anticipation of deep postseason runs.
Spurs legend Tim Duncan benefited the most from this kind of approach by Popovich. The 39-year-old five-time NBA champion had been playing controlled minutes for the last three seasons and was also made to sit out stretches of games which is why he is still effective going into his 19th season in the league.