Portland forward LaMarcus Aldridge has learned to tune everything else aside from the game of basketball itself out.

"As long as my teammates know I'm doing what they need, that's all that matters," Aldridge said. "Because you can't really listen to the fans all the time, because they don't know what's really going on in house, and they don't know what the team needs."

Aldridge also acknowledged that he struggled through the first part of the season, buried beneath the weight of a new contract, heightened expectations and decreased responsibility.

"When things are not going well, I always can look at myself," Aldridge said. "And when people are saying things that are not true, I always know my character."