Is LaMarcus Aldridge Available? USA Basketball Wants to Know

The folks in charge of the U.S. national hoops program have no idea if they’ll have the services of one LaMarcus Aldridge this summer or not, and it’s getting on their nerves. CSNNW reports: “Portland Trail Blazers All-Star forward, LaMarcus Aldridge, is scheduled to have right hip surgery on May 10 by specialist, Dr. Marc Philippon, in Vail Colo. to repair a slight labral tear. His recovery time is approximately 2-4 months. Aldridge has said that he intends to try and make it back in time to compete for a roster spot on Team USA for the 2012 Olympics in London saying, ‘I could easily be back in time, but I’m not going to push my rehab.’ The problem is that the director of USA Basketball says he has yet to be notified from Aldridge’s camp informing him on if he’s officially out or not. ‘In our minds, he’s (Aldridge) on our unavailable list,’ Jerry Colangelo said. ‘We haven’t heard from anybody telling us he’s going to try and play. I got to hear from somebody. An agent, a doctor, somebody. As of now, we’re going in thinking he’s unavailable. … We’re going to go with healthy players,’ Colangelo said. ‘He (Aldridge) hasn’t even had his surgery yet. If he’s going to be back in time and plans on playing, I need to know.’ The United States Olympic Committee issued a June 18 deadline to turn in a 12-man roster, but Colangelo says he requested an extension due to the uncertainty of some of his players and it was approved and extended to July 8. Training camp begins in Las Vegas on July 6.”