Andre Iguodala has been key figure in each of the Warriors’ three championships. He even took home Finals MVP in 2015, primarily for his ability to make life just a tad more difficult for LeBron James with his pesky defense. Iggy also deserves major credit for his willingness to accept a lesser role in the Warriors’ grand scheme in order to let their stars shine.
That lesser role also entails taking less money than he could almost certainly earn elsewhere, the allure of which proved at least a little tempting when he hit free agency last summer. Ultimately, loyalty and the opportunity to win perhaps several more titles won out, but not before Iguodala had a little fun with Steve Kerr and general manager Bob Myers about it.
On a recent episode of The Lowe Post podcast, Kerr said Iggy told them both over the phone that he’d decided to join the Kings before letting the cat out of the bag that he was planning to stay on a long-term deal.
“Typical Andre,” Kerr said. “He decided to play a joke on Bob [Myers] and me. He got us on a conference call, told us he was gonna go to Sacramento, and we wished him well, and he’s like, ‘I got you suckers. I’m coming back.’
“That’s probably the first time it’s ever been told, but now that we’ve won a title and we got it all in our rear-view mirror, that story can be told,” Kerr continued. “But that’s typical Andre. He faked it, I bought it for a few seconds, but he gave it away quickly. He just started laughing. He just said, ‘Nah, I’m just kidding.’ And it would have been shocking for him to leave this situation.”
Iguodala missed a crucial chunk of the playoffs after he got injured during the Western Conference Finals and the Rockets had them on the ropes, 3-2. He returned, however, for Games 3 and 4 of the Finals and made some key plays down the stretch to the help his team secure their third title in four years.
As it stands, he’s locked up with the Warriors through the 2020 season, after which he’ll become an unrestricted free agent.
