Andre Iguodala is having fun on his new team. After playing for eight seasons in a Philadelphia 76ers uniform, Iguodala played in a Golden State Warriors’ uniform for the first time in Philadelphia yesterday. He played freely and fluidly in his return to Philadelphia, and he had 32 points in 33 minutes and made a career-high seven three-pointers in 11 attempts.
“It was almost kind of like a high school game, where you get it going and you just can’t miss,” Iguodala said about his hot shooting last night.
Iguodala was drafted ninth overall by the Sixers in 2004, and he is still in the top of the Sixers’ record books in career points, defensive rebounds, assists, steals, field goals, three-pointers, and minutes. He also was an All-Star with the Sixers in 2012, and he was named to the All-Defensive Second Team in 2011. He was then traded to the Denver Nuggets in the summer of 2012.
“Everything started here,” Iguodala said about his time as a Sixer. “They gave me the opportunity to establish myself as an NBA player, starting off defensively. That’s followed me throughout my whole career, but as changes came, I was also able to showcase my offensive talents. Everything from my foundation kind of started here.”
In his first trip back to Philadelphia with the Nuggets in last season’s opener, Iguodala was booed as he shot 5-for-13 from the field and had four turnovers. Initially, he received a standing ovation during a tribute video shown during the first quarter of that game, but he felt too much pressure throughout the game and failed to have a big night.
“The first thought is always, ‘Destroy them,’ ” Iguodala said about his first trip back to Philadelphia. “The human side, it’s hard to block that out.”
Last night was a different story. Iguodala usually does a little bit of everything on the court, but last night, he was the offensive star. In the Sixers’ attempt to prevent Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson from shooting threes, Iguodala was given a lot of wide open looks at the three-point line, and he took advantage of them. The Sixers weren’t able to contain Curry either, as he posted his second career triple-double with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists. Iguodala showed that not only can he rebound, defend, and distribute for the Warriors this season, but he can also become a shooting threat.
On this Warriors team, Iguodala is not the first option, and he’s ok with that. In Philadelphia, he was expected to be the main man. He had the pressure of replacing Allen Iverson, so Sixers fans always expected the absolute best out of Iguodala. Even when he went to Denver, Iguodala had the pressure of replacing Carmelo Anthony. With the Warriors, he’s able to play more freely and more like himself.
“In Philadelphia, when he was making the kind of money he was making there and was the signature player, I think people felt like (he) should score X number of points, should be the guy at the end of the game to have the ball in (his) hands…” Doug Collins, the head coach of the 76ers from 2010 to 2012, said.
Iguodala loves being a Warrior, because he’s able to play his own versatile style of basketball. The Warriors love Iguodala because he makes them a title contender. He’s fits in perfectly with this Warriors team.
“When you look at him as a basketball player, you appreciate everything he does on the floor,” Mark Jackson said. “He doesn’t care if he shoots. He doesn’t care if he gets touches. He’s a guy with an IQ, and he impacts the game without scoring. I don’t think you look at his numbers in trying to justify why we got him or how much he’s making. It doesn’t do him any justice to look at him that way.”
Iguodala’s former coach with the Nuggets, George Karl, even agreed that the Warriors are the perfect team for Iguodala to play on and vice versa.
“When that deal went down, I said to myself, ‘There’s probably not a better team for Andre than Golden State from the standpoint of his personality,’ ” Karl said. “Andre loves a team to play as a team. I think the only thing he’s had problems with in his career was when teams wanted him to score 20 points. Golden State doesn’t need him to score 20 points. They need him to do everything that he does at a high level – from defense to playmaking to picking up and covering the ball or taking the No. 1 offensive player on the court.”
Iguodala put on a shooting display yesterday in the place where he got his basketball career started. He played like that scoring threat and number one option on offense that Philadelphia expected him to be in his time as a Sixer. Now, in his tenth season, Iguodala is playing at his best, and he’s not scoring as much as he was earlier in his career. It’s only fitting that he would have a scoring outburst when he returned to Philadelphia.
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