Andre Iguodala was faced with a difficult choice this offseason after winning his fourth NBA championship with the Warriors: To retire or not to retire?
His highly-anticipated decision came Friday as he announced he will, in fact, be returning to Golden State this season for his 19th year in the league -- and joked that some of those closest to him made it difficult to hang it up.
“I’m going to blame a few people,” Iguodala told co-host Evan Turner on a special episode of their “Point Forward” podcast. “Steph Curry is one person that I’m going to blame. But as a group, I’m blaming Draymond [Green], Steph and Klay [Thompson]. Steve Kerr a little bit, [general manager] Bob Myers.
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“I think they just really showed me a lot of love, you know what I mean? They really helped me see my presence outside of physically playing basketball but also, I think Steve was a big culprit in terms of, ‘Listen, we really need you on the court,’ and Draymond was big on that as well with the texts.”
It should come as no surprise to Dub Nation that some of the most important figures within the Warriors organization seemingly pleaded with Iguodala to return. His role as a mentor has proven invaluable over the years and especially last season, as youngsters like Jordan Poole, Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga made names for themselves in the NBA.
Iguodala’s presence is pertinent as those three continue to grow this season, and No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman certainly could use another veteran to guide him as he makes his long-awaited return to the court.
Golden State Warriors
And across his 18 seasons in the NBA, Iguodala has acquired a basketball IQ that long has been praised by both Kerr and Myers as a mind they can bounce ideas off of.
Still, Myers recently told The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami on “The TK Show” that he didn’t want to force Iguodala into returning though the team’s desire never wavered.
“I believe in my role and Steve will tell you the same thing and as would Steph, we talked about Andre the other day, talked to Draymond about him, it's unequivocal in the organization,” Myers said. “There's not a guy that doesn't want him back in a big way.”
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Well, all that wanting paid off.
Iguodala is back, and the Warriors are certainly more than happy to take the blame.