Andre Iguodala staying in the now in second go-around with Warriors

By Ric Bucher
FOX Sports NBA Writer

This time, Andre Iguodala promised himself, it would be different. 

As much success as he and the Golden State Warriors had during his previous six-year stint with the team — five trips to the Finals, three championships and a Finals MVP award for him — he found himself so focused on the destination that he could not appreciate the journey.

This time, he told himself after re-signing with the Warriors last summer following a two-year sojourn in Miami, he would stay in the now. He would appreciate "the small successes," as a friend advised. 

As it turns out, he has had no choice. Simply getting on the floor this season has been a small success. 

But his vision of staying in the moment did not entail doing so in street clothes — especially not once the postseason rolled around.

"I’m dying over here," he said in an exclusive conversation with FOX Sports on his drive home from another long physical therapy session in a season filled with them. "Mentally, it’s the most taxing it’s ever been. I get texts around the clock: ‘I can fix you’ and ‘I’ve got a remedy.’ Sometimes you get people saying, ‘Shoot yourself up, and just get yourself out there.’ I’ve got that text many times from people I know. I’m like, ‘Are you crazy?’ 

"Or I’ll see a tweet: ‘Well, what are you waiting on?’ As if I’m just watching this thing fly by, and I’m capable of going out there. Fans and media are so close to us now, we can feel all that energy. And it can take a toll on you."

The latest repercussion of Iguodala's being 38 years old and in his 17th year in the league is an unspecified neck issue that has forced him to miss five of the Warriors’ first eight playoff games. He has already been ruled out for Games 4 and 5 (Monday and Wednesday) of the Warriors’ second-round series with the Memphis Grizzlies.

"It hurts him not to be able to play," coach Steve Kerr said. "But this is the reality of where he is in his career, the mileage he has on his body. He’s done so much for this organization, and he wants to do more. The reality is his body hasn’t held up."

Iguodala made only 31 regular-season appearances this year, thanks to an assortment of physical ailments. A swollen right knee led to an uncooperative left hip, which led to a back problem. But treating regular-season games as optional in order to have Iguodala optimal come playoff time was standard operating procedure during all the Warriors’ trips to the Finals.

"The difference is, as you get older, sometimes your body may not respond the way it normally has," he said.

The way the season started, it was easy to forget that Iguodala spent two seasons with the Miami Heat, including a run to the Finals in the COVID-induced Bubble in Orlando, Florida.

"When he came back here," forward Draymond Green said, "you weren’t looking at it like, ‘Oh, Andre is going to play a bunch of regular-season games and a bunch of regular-season minutes.’ You’re looking at it like, ‘Great, we’re bringing Andre back. Everybody is happy about it, and you know when the playoffs roll around you can turn to him, and he’s going to provide the things that we need.’ 

"So to not have that, that’s a huge, huge loss. It’s one that we’re trying to overcome. But it’s difficult."

Iguodala’s impact is impossible to fully appreciate simply by looking at a box score, especially in the postseason. His career playoff averages: 9.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists. But his impact on the Warriors’ scoring margin in the five consecutive postseasons that resulted in the Finals offers a glimpse: 18, 14, 2, 20 and 8, all plusses.

Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Green are generally regarded as the Warriors’ Big Three, but in reality, Iguodala has been an indispensable fourth contributor as a dependable assistant for each one of them. Need a second ball handler to take the pressure off Steph? Need a playmaker who can defend, rebound and start a fastbreak like Draymond? Need a wing defender capable of hitting a timely 3 like Klay? Iguodala is the one Kerr turned to in every instance. 

Asked what the Warriors miss without Iguodala, Curry said, "His composure, his IQ, the plays that everybody in this room knows that he makes … He’s always in the right place at the right time, makes the right pass. This year has been tough on him, and the whole team, being in and out of the lineup. 

"The hope was that this time of year he’d be at his peak, and he hasn’t had the opportunity to do that. It’s tough, but he’s given us a lot as far as in the locker room and on the bench as far as his presence and his voice and leadership. But you’d rather have him on the court. We’ll see what happens moving forward."

Green put it in starker terms, both what they miss without Iguodala and when they expect to get him back.

"That’s someone you can always turn to to settle things down," he said. "That’s definitely missed. You’re replacing that 17 years of experience with a half a year of experience or two years of experience. That’s just a totally different look. Now, having said that, you have to make an adjustment, and I think we’re doing a decent job at it, but it’s hard.

"I don’t think anybody is assuming he’s coming back. If he comes back, great. That would be fantastic. But I don’t think anybody is walking around every day thinking, ‘When we get Andre back, X Y and Z is happening.’ Because you just can’t wait on him. You just don’t know."

Iguodala has found solace in sharing the fruits of those 17 years with the players — combo guard Jordan Poole, small forward Andrew Wiggins, rookie power forward Jonathan Kuminga and Otto Porter, a vet forward but first-year Warrior — charged with making up for his absence. (The array of players is another reflection of the many roles Iguodala plays.) 

In Game 3, he could be seen talking to Kuminga and, minutes later, punching the air in celebration as Kuminga got behind the Grizzlies’ defense and took a pass from Green for an easy layup. 

"Every year in training camp, Draymond will have a rant about a guy being the 15th man and his job being very important because he has to keep Steph sharp in practice. He’s got to make it hard on him to get him ready for the game," Iguodala said. "Or if the 15th man is coming after my spot, it’s going to make me work to keep my spot. Iron sharpens iron. I think about that more than anything as far as how I can be of help now."

This isn’t how anyone imagined Iguodala’s return, especially after he played in 12 of the team's first 14 games, posting an almost absurd plus-minus of 28.4 as the Warriors went 12-2 in November. But even then, Iguodala was reluctant to start envisioning a return to the Warriors’ dynastic ways.

"The point for me is to maximize the year and have as much fun and joy and laughter as I can," he said. "The thing I’ve struggled with in my career is not basking in my success or enjoying it. That first championship was probably the first time I was able to soak it all in, but I didn’t enjoy the second one or the third one because it was like, ‘We have to do it again and again.’"

In a sense, Iguodala never completely detached from the Warriors, not even after he was traded to the Grizzlies in a move forced by salary-cap restrictions to make room for the acquisition of Wiggins. He remained close and in contact with the other three members of his team-centric golf foursome — Steph, personnel director Jonnie West and player development coach Jacob Rubin — but never imagined sharing anything other than a tee time with them again.

"Jacob and I share a big-brother feeling for Steph in terms of protecting him," Iguodala said. "We’d talk all the time about what he needs around him. 'This person can help him here, this guy could do this a little bit better there.’ He finally said, ‘Well, why don’t you just bring your ass back and show us?’ And I was like, ‘Ah, salary cap, you don’t have enough money.’

"We’d joke about stuff like that. We were throwing around a lot of different ideas. I really thought I’d sign back here for one day and retire. But the opportunity came to come back, and if I left Miami, I wasn’t going to go anywhere else."

Iguodala remained close with Kerr as well, a bond forged by their University of Arizona roots and shared devotion to late Wildcats coach Lute Olsen. 

"We see basketball the same way," Iguodala said. "Coach O was all about doing things the right way. Having a proper reverence and appreciation for the game. It’s not about you. It’s about the whole. And fundamentals are an important part of the game. Inside pivots, outside pivots, we take all that for granted. It’s more like, 'Oh, I’ve got to get off this shot because I’ll have 20, and 20 looks better than 17.’ 

"We also have an appreciation for life outside of basketball."

After the NBA Bubble, Iguodala was back in the Bay playing a round of golf with Kerr the day the Warriors signed Kent Bazemore and Brad Wanamaker. The two chatted about how the new additions might fit with the team without ever discussing a return by Iguodala. "It’s funny, we didn’t even mention it," he said. "We were just talking about basketball concepts — who he was trying to get, who I thought was good. It wasn’t about me or me coming back at all."

When the possibility arose, though, Iguodala couldn’t resist the chance to watch Steph up close again.

"When I was playing with him, I was never able to appreciate him," he said. "I was just so locked in with what I had to do. Even when his shot is in the air, I don’t see it half the time because I can’t — I’ve got to get back on defense. But then I got a chance to see him from afar, and I was like, ‘Sheesh, this dude is amazing.’ 

"I finally had a chance to have fun watching him play, and that gave me some spark. It got the juices flowing to want to be a part of that. To help him get back to where he should be, in terms of team success — individually, I’m not helping him. He’s helping me — but as a whole with the team, helping build up the young guys. That’s the value that I can still bring to the table."

For now, it’s the only value Iguodala is able to bring. He hopes that will change. But if it doesn’t, he’s OK with being a calming voice and a steadying hand. 

"I’m very comfortable with myself in that regard," he said. "Even if it goes unnoticed."

Spoken like a true vet. Then again, it’s all he has in the moment.

Ric Bucher is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. He previously wrote for Bleacher Report, ESPN The Magazine and The Washington Post and has written two books, "Rebound," the story of NBA forward Brian Grant’s battle with young onset Parkinson’s, and "Yao: A Life In Two Worlds," the story of NBA center Yao Ming. He also has a daily podcast, "On The Ball with Ric Bucher." Follow him on Twitter @RicBucher.