Iguodala still indispensable
Andre Iguodala reads the Wall Street Journal daily, meets with Silicon Valley CEOs for dinner on non-game nights and monitors an expansive portfolio of investments.
What started as a pragmatic desire to set himself up for long-term financial stability has blossomed into a lucrative passion. Between his $118 million in NBA earnings and his numerous off-the-court enterprises, Iguodala could retire comfortably from basketball anytime.
“I have other things I want to focus on in my life,” Iguodala said after Warriors practice Friday.
During the meantime, he is content being an essential role player for the Warriors. In the past two-plus weeks, as Golden State has navigated life without the injured Kevin Durant, Iguodala, 33, has tested the limits of his prime.
A half-decade removed from his days as a go-to scorer for Philadelphia, Iguodala has averaged 11.1 points on 29-for-47 shooting (61.7 percent) in his past seven games. His renewed
emphasis on attacking the rim has provided a much-needed punch off the bench with Durant out.
The highlight came when, with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson laboring in the March 6 game in Atlanta, Iguodala scored a season-high 24 points on only eight shots to power the Warriors to a 119-111 win. That he has shouldered a heavier load without sacrificing his defense and facilitating ability only reinforces why head coach Steve Kerr considers him Golden State’s most unsung player.
With 221 assists, 66 steals and 50 giveaways, Iguodala leads the league in assists per turnover (4.40) and ranks seventh in steals per turnover (1.32). His plus-minus average of 6.2 tops all NBA reserves who have played at least 35 games.
“We rely on him so much for so many different things,” Kerr said. “He doesn’t get a lot of credit, but he deserves it because he’s a phenomenal basketball player.”
In the past five years, only two players have been an Eastern Conference All-Star, a goldmedal-winning Olympian for the U.S. and the most valuable player of the NBA Finals: Iguodala and LeBron James. It is a pedigree that befits a future Hall of Famer like James much better than Iguodala, who hasn’t finished a season averaging double-digit points since he joined the Warriors in 2013.
More than any physical gift, what separates Iguodala from most players his age is his diligent self-preservation. Seldom does he not meet with the training staff immediately after practice. When Kerr asks him to rest the occasional game, Iguodala hardly argues. Acupuncture appointments are part of his monthly routine.
It is a blueprint for late-season success. After Golden State lost two of its first three games in the 2015 NBA finals to Cleveland, Kerr put Iguodala in the starting lineup. The Warriors won out as he helped hold James to just 39.8 percent shooting for the series. After cementing the franchise’s first NBA title in 40 years with a 25-point eruption in Game 6, Iguodala beat out James and Curry for Finals MVP.
In Game 6 of last year’s Western Conference finals against Oklahoma City, Golden State trailed by 6 late, when Iguodala stripped a driving Durant and hit Thompson for one of Thompson’s 11 three-pointers to help spark a come-from-behind win. Two nights later in Game 7, Iguodala played a team-high 43 minutes and harassed Durant into a slew of difficult shots.
“Andre does a good job of taking care of himself,” said assistant coach Willie Green, who, at 35, is only slightly older than Iguodala. “I think he understands the importance of being at his best going into the playoffs.”
Midway through the second quarter of Thursday night’s rout of Orlando, Draymond Green saw a wide-open Iguodala streaming toward the rim. Green picked up his dribble midcourt and found Iguodala for a spectacular alley-oop.
It was the type of acrobatic dunk that raised an important question: How many more years does Iguodala have left before he focuses exclusively on his off-the-court endeavors?
“Ten,” said Iguodala, who will be a free agent this summer. “I’ll just lie like that to get leverage” in contract negotiations.