San Antonio Spurs: LaMarcus Aldridge continues to crush 2016-17 stats

San Antonio Spurs star LaMarcus Aldridge already topped this one stat from the 2016-17 season, and likely will destroy it.
The 2017-18 season has been the year of LaMarcus Aldridge. His rebound campaign pushed the San Antonio Spurs forward, with Kawhi Leonard out for most of this time, having played just nine games and remaining out for the foreseeable future.
Without Aldridge, who knows where the Spurs would be? They sit at 30-17, but if those offseason trade rumors came to fruition, would this team even be in the playoff picture? That’s without the 22.6 points and 8.6 rebounds per game he’s put up from October to the middle of January.
To go slightly deeper into the 32-year-old’s numbers, he’s put up impressive numbers across his full line. From rebounds to blocks to the occasional steal, his lines are usually gaudy. That became the case in Friday’s game vs. the Toronto Raptors, even though he shot just 24 percent from the field. The 17 points and 14 rebounds gave Aldridge his 19th double-double of the season, one more than he had in 2016-17, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
LaMarcus Aldridge has his 19th double-double this season, already more than he had all of last season (18).
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 20, 2018
The potential six-time All-Star has four double-doubles in his past seven games, including a 30-point, 14-rebound performance vs. the Portland Trail Blazers.
Aldridge as a double-double machine just highlights his bounce-back season. It’s a far cry from anything in the 2016-17 campaign, when he played second fiddle to Leonard and had that highly-criticized playoff fun vs. the Golden State Warriors. So, it’s safe to say the book has changed on the Texas product.
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What will Aldridge pull off next? He can potentially make the 2018 All-Star Game. Although, it would not be as a starter. The reserves will be announced on Thursday, Jan. 25 on TNT. Him making the team likely means the Spurs will have just one representative in Los Angeles, something his play this season has warranted.