When the clock strikes midnight on the East Coast, as the date shifts from Tuesday, June 30, to Wednesday, July 1, madness will commence.
The phones of players, agents, coaches and front-office types alike will start ringing with contract offers and sales pitches intended to entice the crop of 2015 free agents.
But according to Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News, LaMarcus Aldridge, the best player who might actually leave his current home, shouldn’t expect a late-night, early-morning call from one of his potential suitors.
Harvey notes San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich won’t be waiting up to contact the power forward. Rather, Popovich said he’ll be sleeping.
“I’m not calling anyone at midnight. I’ll be in bed. And if that’s the difference in someone coming or not coming, then I don’t want them.”
The beginning of NBA free agency is similar to the courtship in college recruiting. The respective program attempts to convince the player to commit to the school, fawning over his abilities and why the team needs his talent. However, once the athlete arrives, he’s expected to immediately adhere to the coach’s rules, to the same person who likely spent more than a year consistently lauding the potential star.
Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports reported Popovich, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker are scheduled to meet with Aldridge on Wednesday, so the Spurs are certainly pushing for his services.
But Popovich has backed off the full-court press in favor of his regularly scheduled sleep, and there’s definitely not anything wrong with that.
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