During Golden State’s 128-112 win over Portland on Friday night, Andre Iguodala suffered a sprained left ankle. The loss of Iggy is, in the words of head coach Steve Kerr, “a really big deal.” The do-everything former All-Star and 2015 Finals MVP settles their second unit, and there aren’t many players who can defend LeBron, run the offense, and still play third or fourth fiddle in Golden State’s small-ball units. He’s irreplaceable, which might explain why Andrew Bogut was so frustrated after it happened.
Iggy’s sprain occurred after his dribble skittered towards mid-court and Damian Lillard leapt for the ball, inadvertently landing on that left ankle.
https://i.giphy.com/3osxY4NTK17am1CWsM.gif
MRI tests confirmed the ankle is damaged, and it’s just the sort of nagging injury that could subsist through May and June if Iggy isn’t allowed the proper rest and rehabilitation. With 73 wins staring Golden State firmly in the face, three more contests against the Spurs and the inevitable energy levels of lottery-bound teams trying to salvage their season with a win against the mighty Warriors, it’s a bigger blow than it might seem on the surface.
Kerr isn’t exactly an alarmist, so this reaction, by way of the San Francisco Chronicle, shows what this might mean for the juggernaut moving forward.
“Andre is so important to everything we do — not only just in terms of schematically, but also in terms of emotionally. He settles us down. He’s one of our two captains. He’s one of our guys who just always knows what’s happening on the floor.
“It’s a big loss, but we’ve got a deep team. We’ve got guys who are ready to step in for him. We’ll do our best.”
Perhaps the angst at Iggy’s injury is why Bogut sent this codified subtweet appearing to find Damian Lillard culpable for the injury.
https://twitter.com/andrewbogut/status/708913007196155905
Kerr almost confirmed similar thinking when he said in a pregame news conference Monday (by way of CSNBayArea.com), “It was a dangerous play.” Except, Kerr didn’t just stop there because calling Dame dirty isn’t really accurate, specifically on this play (and we’d add overall, too — Lillard just isn’t a dirty player).
“It’s hard to fault a guy for diving for a loose ball. So, I don’t think there’s any blame.”
Bogut actually agrees, as you’ll see, because there’s more to his subtweet than just an implicit denouncement of Dame.
Bay Area News Group’s Diamond Leung spoke to Bogut about the tweet and the Aussie big man’s response shows that he’s more upset by the double standard than Dame’s specific action.
“What do you think if a different guy did that like a (Matthew) Dellavedova?” Bogut asked Leung.
The question is apt because how often did we hear about Matthew Dellavedova as the dirty henchman for the grind-it-out Cavs when they lost Kevin Love early in last year’s playoffs? Every time Delly scrapped his knees on the hardwood, there was a visceral reaction on Twitter that he was purposefully trying to end a guy’s career.
Unfortunately, that angst trickled into the way players and coaches viewed Delly, and — it turns out — his fellow countryman, Bogut. In an informal poll the LA Times did earlier this year, Delly and Steven Adams (a nearby New Zealand native) were named the dirtiest players in the NBA. Bogut wasn’t far behind.
Andrew says a lot more on the disconnect between native-born basketball players and foreigners, but he also excuses Dame — and rightfully, so — from any sort of premeditated malice on the play, while acknowledging it was an impulsive dive at a player’s legs while going for a loose ball.
“It seems like certain guys – predominantly international – that are the dirty guys in the league,” Bogut said. “That would have been a national outrage if it was somebody else. It goes back to I don’t think Damian did it on purpose. I don’t think he did it on purpose. I don’t think he tried to hurt Andre. But the be-all end-all, it’s a reckless play. No matter how you look at it. I don’t think he tried to hurt him, but at the same time, you dove for a loose ball through someone’s legs. That’s what happens, and that’s just unfortunate, but like I said, they’d be calling for his head (if it was somebody else).
“There’s a huge double standard, a massive double standard. And I’m not saying Damian should get in trouble. Nothing like that…It’s more like the perception afterwards of the double standard. Like if it’s a big 7-foot international guy, all of a sudden, ‘Oh yeah, he’s not as skilled or talented.’ An All-Star does it, ‘You know, he was just hustling.’ Which is a disappointing thing.”
To be clear, once again, Bogut doesn’t think Damian did it on purpose or that Lillard was dirty, even though fans have called Bogut and others, worse.
“There’s no way I said he did it on purpose,” Bogut said. “I think it was a basketball play. Was it a silly play? Yes.
“But these things happen in the game. But at the same time, if one guy did it on the same play compared to someone else, what’s the difference? That’s just the annoying thing. But that comes with status and all that kind of stuff. So it’s just really frustrating. You read between the lines and see who a lot of guys say the dirty guys are. It’s generally always international guys.”
Think about this the next time you’re screaming for Bogut to get tossed or fined simply because he set a really hard screen, grabbed a guy’s jersey on a rebound, or performed whatever other microscopic adjustments he makes in a game to give his team a better chance to win.
He ain’t dirty when he’s on your team, is he? The same can be said about players born somewhere other than America’s hallowed shores.
