Center LaMarcus Aldridge will miss rest of Nets' trip with left ankle sprain

Nets head coach Steve Nash has revealed that center LaMarcus Aldridge will miss the rest of Brooklyn’s current road trip due to a left ankle sprain, per Nick Friedell of ESPN (via Twitter). Friedell adds that Nash expressed optimism that the veteran big man could rejoin the Nets before the upcoming All-Star break.

Aldridge suffered the injury in a weekend loss to the Warriors. He departed Golden State’s home arena, the Chase Center, in a walking boot and on crutches. Nash is glad that Aldridge’s injury is not more severe, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “There’s always a dark side, a bad side of all these injuries or incidents in a game, so you can always look at the positive side,” Nash said. “And fortunately I don’t think it’s a long-term thing; it’s more of a short-term thing.” Lewis notes that Nash would not reveal the extent of the sprain.

There’s more out of the City That Never Sleeps:

• There has been a shakeup near the top of the Nets ownership hierarchy. John Abbamondi, CEO of Nets parent company BSE Global, will be stepping down in July 2022, per Jabari Young of CNBC (Twitter link). Abbamondi was just hired in July 2020. Vice President of Global Partnership Sales Chris Insolera also revealed that he would be leaving BSE on Tuesday, per Mark J. Burns of the Sports Business Journal (via Twitter).
• Second-year Knicks power forward Obi Toppin will participate in his second straight Slam Dunk Contest during the 2022 All-Star Weekend, per Marc Berman of the New York Post (Twitter link).
• Knicks rookie guard Quentin Grimes has seen his intense commitment to growth through practice pay off on the hardwood, writes Steve Popper of Newsday. Grimes has had positive practice habits instilled in him from a young age. “My dad, he grew up playing basketball,” Grimes said. “Played at Santa Clara and was around Kurt Rambis and a lot of NBA guys growing up in the Houston area. He always told me that no matter if you’re not playing, playing a lot, playing 40 minutes, you got to treat every practice like it’s a game because you’re ultimately preparing yourself for the game… If I’m BS’ing in practice, that’s not going to help me in the game, especially as a rookie.” Grimes had a bumpy start to his first NBA season. He played in just 13 of the Knicks' first 26 games, averaging just six minutes per contest. After coronavirus absences gave Grimes an opportunity to play more minutes, he showed more promising flashes. “He treats practice like a game,” head coach Tom Thibodeau raved. “He’s there early. He practices extremely hard. He guards everyone. He’s not going to take any possessions off. He’s not too cool. He’s earned his way.”