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San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich taking wait and see approach with LaMarcus Aldridge's condition

SAN ANTONIO — At this time of the year, at this point in the season, coach Gregg Popovich is accustomed to running through a laundry list of nagging and sometimes debilitating injuries to his players.

But the determination that power forward LaMarcus Aldridge is experience “a minor heart arrhythmia” is more jarring.

“Sure. You just think more seriously,” Popovich said before Saturday night’s game against the Warriors. “Tony (Parker), it’s his back. Dejounte (Murray), it’s his pelvic bone. And then somebody says ‘heart,’ and you start thinking a little more possible long-term stuff.

“That’s a little scary. But you don’t go there yet. They are doing some tests. They did some tests today and they are going to continue it on Monday. He is going to see some people on Monday, and based on what they do and see, we’ll know better what we are really looking at. But we don’t know right now.”

Aldridge was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, an abnormality that can cause a rapid heartbeat, at the end of his rookie season in April 2007.

He missed the final nine games of that season with the Trail Blazers after that diagnosis. He also missed time at the start of 2011-12, when there was a recurrence.

Fran Blinebury has covered the NBA since 1977. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.

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