The 2021-22 Golden State Warriors season-in-review: Andre Iguodala
Andre Iguodala makes a positive impact despite career-worst shooting, Iguodala's defensive prowess, his seamless fit alongside Steph Curry, and his invaluable mentorship role.
Andre Iguodala.: C+
Andre Iguodala announced his return to the Warriors in a way only he could and broke the news himself via The New York Times. In the NYT article, Iguodala made it clear that he intended to end his career with the Warriors:
“Who would have thought I’d have the opportunity to go back to the place where I was able to have, whatever you want to call it, legacy years, in terms of the accomplishments, winning multiple championships, the relationships that I was able to build with some of my closest friends and teammates?” Iguodala said, adding: “The relationship with the fans, the relationship with the Bay, the opportunity to end it here, was just something special.”
Iguodala also acknowledged that his role on this Warriors team would be quite different from the one he played during his first stint in the Bay Area.
“You had a lot of veteran guys who knew how to get their work in and everyone could go out there on their own pace,” Iguodala said of his run in Golden State. “It was kind of just all-inviting vibes, where it was carefree, relaxing and it was kind of like Hawaiian-type vibes.”
Not so much in Miami.
“It was the other end of the spectrum, where it was ultra-focused,” he said. “We had a drill called Hunger Games, where it was exactly what it sounds like from the movie — when you’re talking about to the death. That’s when I learned to appreciate different approaches.”
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Iguodala said he is looking forward to mentoring the team’s younger players like the veterans Kevin Ollie and Aaron McKie did for him when he entered the league — a component he feels is often overlooked — and using the “militaristic, kind of Navy seal approach” he learned in Miami.
“The way that they develop their younger players in making sure they have the proper approach to how they’re doing their job is second to none and I really appreciated that,” Iguodala said, “because there’s a fine line between your superstar and your eighth, ninth guy coming off the bench and all of our guys were always ready.”
Steve Kerr’s preseason rotation was veteran-heavy — the Warriors would chase wins this season, Kerr said coyly — and when the regular season started, Iguodala played significant minutes. In the Warriors’ regular-season opener against the Lakers, Andre played over 20 minutes and scored 12 points with two made threes. Check out the Warriors’ bench lineup in this clip:
Poole/Lee/Iguodala/OPJ/Bjelica was the first second-unit of the regular season and ended up tallying a -18 net rating this season, but on opening night they performed admirably. Iguodala looked spry that night and turned back the clock on two impressive plays:
Iguodala played 12 of the Warriors’ first 14 games before sitting out 11 straight games with hip issues. In his last game before sitting out, Iguodala provided this highlight:
No matter the state of Andre Iguodala’s body, he was good for one of his iconic swipe-down steals every few games and the Warriors had a 99th percentile DRTG of 99.6 in his non-garbage time minutes. But Father Time came for Iguodala and he was a part-time player for the Warriors. Iguodala never played more than 6 consecutive games this past season and there were occasional moments where his declining athleticism was apparent.
But after missing 11 games between November and December, Iguodala gave the Warriors a decent run of health from mid-December until late January. This period of time coincided with two important stretches of the regular season: the COVID-related absences of Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins, and Damion Lee and then the return of Klay Thompson. In a December win against the Boston Celtics, Iguodala scored 12 points in 24 minutes and took a season-high 9 shots. In crunch-time, Andre effectively sealed the game with a strip-steal of a Jaylen Brown drive:
On New Year’s day, Iguodala nearly tallied a triple-double in a comeback win against the Utah Jazz. In 23 minutes, Iguodala had 12 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds and played huge fourth-quarter minutes. You can see a few clips from that game below:
My favorite Iguodala moment of the season came in a road game against the Chicago Bulls in January. A few days before, Klay Thompson returned from his Achilles rehab and Draymond Green injured the disc in his back that would force him to miss nearly half of the season. The Warriors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in Thompson’s triumphant return, lost their next game to the Memphis Grizzlies, and then got blown out in humiliating fashion on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Warriors needed a win and the next night, they crushed the Chicago Bulls and Iguodala helped spur the second-quarter run that effectively put the game out of reach. Andre Iguodala only played 10 minutes in that game, but he was a +12 in his stint and pulled off a steal and behind-the-back pass in transition that ranks among the best highlights of his storied career:
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