Alexis Ajinca has spent the bulk of his five NBA seasons trying to prove he belongs, something he was initially unsuccessful at doing during a 2008-11 stint split among Charlotte, Toronto and Dallas. But when the 7-foot-2 center signed a four-year contract with New Orleans in July, it served as a resounding, final piece of evidence that the native of France is deserving of a place in the world’s No. 1 league. Now that Ajinca’s future is secure, he wants to show the same work ethic that has helped make him one of the Pelicans’ most improved players – and led the franchise to re-sign him.
“It was in my head (last season), the fact that I was going to be a free agent,” Ajinca said on Tuesday’s Black & Blue Report. “I’m not going to lie about that. But it was more about trying to improve my place in the NBA, not just here, and not be (back) overseas. I think I did that. But it’s not done yet. I have a lot of things to prove still. So I’m still working on that and hopefully it will all work out in the end.”
After New Orleans brought him back to the NBA from Europe in December 2013, Ajinca averaged 5.9 points and 4.9 rebounds over 56 games that season. With the addition of Omer Asik prior to last season, Ajinca’s game-to-game role in the Pelicans front court was much more unpredictable, but he turned in several of the best performances of his career when logging major minutes. Ajinca had 24- and 22-point games off the bench in two-point victories over Miami and Toronto, as well as a 17-point, nine-board outing to help beat the Clippers. Overall, he averaged a career-best 6.5 points, in only 14.1 minutes per game. Perhaps the toughest aspect of last season for Ajinca was his constantly fluctuating role – in the game after the Jan. 30 win over the Clippers, he received a did not play-coach’s decision vs. Atlanta.
“I think I was impressed at how I was able to bounce back after sometimes not playing at all,” said Ajinca, who started eight games, but had 14 DNPs. “I (had instances where) I’d get 20 points, and then the next game I was back on the bench. It was always up and down, but I was able to bounce back and stay strong mentally. I think it was more being mentally prepared every time before the game.
“Last year I had no idea if I was going to play 10 minutes, five or the whole game. I had no idea what was going on. I had to be prepared no matter what. If I was playing five minutes, I tried to get as many points and rebounds as I could get, so I could stay on the court longer and help my teammates as much as I could. Sometimes it worked out, sometimes it didn’t. It’s just the way the game is.”
This offseason, Ajinca celebrated his 27th birthday in May, got married in June, re-signed with the Pelicans in July and played for the French national team in August. He was sidelined from EuroBasket play due to left Achilles soreness, but he says the injury was minor.
“It was a great offseason,” Ajinca said. “I had a chance to re-sign with the Pelicans for four years. I’m super happy about it. I got married this summer, too, so everything was great. I went to the national team. Unfortunately I got injured a little bit, a left Achilles, but nothing major so I’ll be ready for the season.”
After what had been an itinerant start to his NBA career, Ajinca has been able to build familiarity with numerous Pelicans teammates, including six players who’ve been in New Orleans since his 2013 arrival.
“It’s great,” Ajinca said of the team’s roster continuity. “It’s wonderful to have the same team. We went all the way to the playoffs last year. I think we all were disappointed with how it ended, not being able to win at least one game (vs. Golden State in Round 1). Everyone’s going to come back this year with a lot of anger and want to show people what we’re really made of… I know everyone has a lot of ambitions for this year. We want to do better. We don’t want to qualify for the playoffs in the last game of the season. So want to do something better than we did last year.”