Iguodala draws comparison to Pippen
Kerr says both are top defenders who do little things that win games
Shortly after he became the Warriors’ head coach in May 2014, Steve Kerr began telling Andre Iguodala that he reminded Kerr of his former teammate, Scottie Pippen.
They were both capable scorers, sure, but they were also versatile defenders who excelled at getting teammates involved and seldom made mistakes. In his first training camp with Golden State, Kerr saw that Iguodala prided himself on the subtle plays — passes, steals, screens — that had made Pippen so valuable to the Chicago Bulls more than two decades earlier.
After Golden State’s Game 4 rout Sunday of the Pelicans in the Western Conference semifinals, Kerr made a point to highlight Iguodala’s importance. The 2015 NBA Finals MVP’s stat line — six points, seven rebounds, six assists,
three steals, one block, zero turnovers — wasn’t gaudy, but it was a big reason the Warriors will go into Game 5 in Oakland on Tuesday with a 3-1 series lead.
“He’s one of the most fundamentally sound players I’ve ever seen in my life,” Kerr said. “And when you combine that fundamental play with athleticism, that’s a pretty good combination. He reminds me a lot of Scottie Pippen. He really does, in terms of defensive acumen and his ability to play a point-forward role.”
To exorcise the memory of Friday’s Game 3 loss to New Orleans, Kerr started all five of his best players — Iguodala, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green — for the first time.
With the “Hamptons 5”— a nod to the New York resort area where Durant was recruited by the other four in a June 2016 free-agency meeting — leading the charge, Golden State held the Pelicans to 22 first-quarter points on 28.6 percent shooting. Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, Durant and Green also powered a 21-10 Warriors run to open the third quarter and rid the game of doubt.
Golden State’s four All-Stars got the bulk of the credit, but those inside the organization recognized that none of it would have been possible without Iguodala. Iguodala held Nikola Mirotic, New Orleans’ top long-range threat, to seven points on 1-for-7 shooting. A stabilizing force, Iguodala helped dictate the tempo and barked out reads.
“When he’s out there with that small lineup, we’ve got those three guys (Curry, Durant and Thompson) running around like crazy and sometimes me trying to squeeze the ball into the smallest gap possible,” Green said. “He’s just there calming us down.”
Eyebrows were raised last summer when the Warriors re-signed Iguodala to a threeyear, $48 million deal. At 33, he was dealing with nagging back and knee pain. Gone were the days when Iguodala was one of the most athletic players in the league.
His critics got only louder when his numbers lagged well behind his career averages in the regular season. Kerr, however, didn’t fret. A master at self-preservation, Iguodala knows how to be at his best when it matters most.
Iguodala has started eight of Golden State’s nine playoff games. On a roster loaded with shooters, Iguodala is content to guard the opponent’s best scorer and keep a free-flowing offense from veering into chaos.
With that in mind, Kerr re-inserted Iguodala into the starting lineup Sunday after one game coming off the bench. The move, along with shifting Green to center and Durant to power forward, was so fruitful that Kerr already has said the “Hamptons 5” will start in Game 5.
Asked Sunday about Kerr comparing him to Pippen, Iguodala provided the type of analysis that can come only with decades of research. A Springfield, Ill., native, he grew up patterning his game after Michael Jordan’s top sidekick. Now, Iguodala often peppers Kerr — who won three titles with those Chicago teams as a reserve guard — with questions about Pippen.
“Scottie was a little taller, and he was a little longer,” Iguodala said. “He was a little better defensively because of his physical attributes, and I kind of have a little more to my game offensively. He had an incredible bank shot. He got a lot of attempts. The triangle (offense) was really good for him.”
Added Kerr: “We talk a lot about MJ, Scottie and those teams. He was a kid watching and absorbing everything, and so I’ve told him many times he reminds me of Scottie. He’s probably the smartest defensive player I ever played with, and most versatile.”