LaMarcus Aldridge will miss the remainder of the season after surgery on his shoulder

San Antonio Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge will miss the remainder of the NBA season after having surgery on his right shoulder, the team announced Monday.

He was subjected to an arthroscopic subacromial decompression and rotator cuff debridement on his right shoulder on April 24. The injury occured during a game against the Utah Jazz on February 21.

“If you can remember before things shut down, he had the initial injury back in late February to the shoulder and missed a couple of weeks, came back and played in the Dallas game,” Spurs General Manager Brian Wright said, per the Associated Press.

“We tried to take advantage of the hiatus period with rehab and him working to get back. Unfortunately, it just didn’t progress the way that we all had hoped. The best pathway from there was the surgical procedure. So, we decided to move forward with that and get him ready for next season,” he added.

The Spurs are encompassed in the 22-team format and will participate in the season restart which has been set to be on July 31st in Orlando. These eight regular-season games will be critical for the team which will have to vie for the last playoff ticket despite the absence of its superstar LaMarcus Aldridge.

“Disappointed I won’t get to finish the season with my teammates but excited that I’ll be fully ready to go next season and beyond,” Aldridge said.

Aldridge played in 53 games of the total 63 games for the Spurs and before the suspension of the season, he was averaging 18.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists on 49.3% shooting from the field. For him now, the first priority will be to fully recover and come back strong next season.