Let me say this up front: I don’t personally know Jaime Lloreda.
I have only talked to him as a journalist and know nothing of his personal life, and I know few details of his current situation.
But something isn’t right about the situation with Lloreda and the LSU men’s basketball team.
LSU coach John Brady announced Tuesday that Lloreda has left the team and is unlikely to play again for LSU this season.
But the reasons for the 6-foot-9, 245-pound forward Panama native’s departure have not been clear.
This much is certain: Lloreda had been battling injuries with his feet all season. He further complicated those injuries, spraining his ankle twice against Florida. But, despite the injury, he continued to battle it out and was a big reason why LSU beat the Gators on their home floor.
Lloreda pulled himself out of practice Saturday before the Tigers’ showdown with Kentucky on Sunday. He sat on the bench in street clothes in LSU’s 70-64 loss to the Wildcats, but was a no-show at practice Monday afternoon.
There is no doubting the injuries. Lloreda showed a tremendous amount of courage by playing injured in the Tigers’ win against Florida and losses to Auburn and Mississippi State. But, Lloreda has been playing through the injuries up until now, and you would think he would want a shot at one of the league’s premiere teams in Kentucky, right?
Right now, that’s anybody’s guess.
Brady said Monday that it’s possible but not a fact Lloreda could be taking the same route of Christian Drejer, who left Florida midseason for professional basketball in Spain, or Maris Laksa, who left Providence for a team in Slovenia. Rumors have circulated about Lloreda’s concern over his future in professional basketball.
If that holds to be true, it isn’t something I would have expected out of Lloreda.
Earlier this season, Lloreda was disciplined for an altercation last summer with teammate Paul Wolfert and served a suspension early in the season. Since that incident, Lloreda apologized and has spent the season earning back the respect and the trust of his teammates.
In LSU practices all season, Jaime has been one to lead by example. One example of this has been when the Tigers scrimmage in practice, with the losing team, running a 10-second full court sprint.
Most of the time, Lloreda found himself on the winning team, but that didn’t matter. In a show of leadership and team unity, he still ran the sprints with the losing team.
But if Lloreda has abandoned this team for something other than injuries, all he has worked for is gone.
That would be unfortunate for Lloreda because had he remained with the team — whether injured or not, he would have been remembered as one of the more dominant post players in LSU history in his two-year stint.
He averaged 12.3 points and nine rebounds in 2002-2003 and improved those numbers to 16.9 points and 11.6 rebounds this season.
Now, all he will be remembered for is mysteriously leaving a team at the worst possible time with the SEC and NCAA tournaments just around the corner.
Tonight, in a must-win game against Ole Miss, we’ll see how the Lloreda-less Tigers respond.