By Jordan Long
The NBA Champions Golden State Warriors left a roster spot open for Andre Iguodala. He is going to take the summer to decide if he wants to continue his basketball career or retire. The Warriors are giving him all the time he needs to come to a decision.
Iguodala has played in the NBA for 18 years. His stops include Philadelphia, Denver, Miami, and Golden State. He started his NBA career with the Philadelphia 76ers lasting from 2004 to 2012. There Iguodala established himself as one of their best players, scoring 15.3 points per game.
The Nuggets acquired Iguodala on August 12th, 2012. The Nuggets knew he was in the last year of his original contract with the 76ers but Denver expected him to stay in the Mile High City for years to come. In his only year in Denver, Iguodala averaged 13 points per game. Denver earned a playoff spot but were beaten by the Golden State Warriors in 6 games.
Denver wanted to keep him, but Iguodala thought Denver wasn’t a place that was going to help him win an NBA Championship. On July 5th, 2013 Iguodala agreed to a 4-year, $48 million contract with Golden State. Iguodala was more of a role player than a starter for the team, but he was a key bench player. The team went on to win the NBA Championship in 2015, 2017, and 2018. Iguodala earned MVP of the Finals in 2015.
Once the 2019 offseason came, Iguodala went to the Miami Heat. He didn’t have much success there, averaging just 4.4 points per game. He stayed there until the conclusion of the 2021 season. The Heat earned a playoff spot both years. In 2020, which finished in the Bubble, the Heat advanced to the NBA Finals but lost to the Lakers in 6 games. The next year, it was a first-round exit where they were swept by the Milwaukee Bucks. Once the offseason hit, the Heat moved on from Iguodala. He was a free agent and could choose where he wanted to play next.
For Iguodala, it was an easy choice. He wanted to go back where he had the most success in his NBA career, Golden State. He agreed to a 1-year deal. Of course, Golden State went all the way to the Finals and defeated the Boston Celtics in 6 games.
Now that the NBA is deep in the offseason, Golden State is awaiting his decision. According to NBCsports.com, Head Coach of the Golden State Warriors Steve Kerr said, “I leave Andre alone. He knows where we stand. If he wants to come back, we’d love to have him. The one thing we feel strongly about with Andre is we want to give him whatever space and time he needs to make a decision. I’m leaving him alone.
It would not be a shock to see Iguodala retire, playing 18 years in the NBA. Iguodala appeared in 1,223 regular season games. In those games, Iguodala averaged 11.4 points, 4.2 assists, and 4.9 rebounds per game. His team earned a playoff spot 15 times. He played in 177 playoff games averaging 9.4 points per game. Iguodala’s teams went on to win the NBA Championship 4 times. There is nothing left for him to play for.
Iguodala is taking his time but it seems like he should be done with basketball. The only reason to keep playing is to win another ring. The Warriors are still going to be a threat to win it all in the 2022-2023 season because of the talent on the team that includes Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, and Jordan Poole. Why wouldn’t he want to be part of that? Even though it sounds great, there is no guarantee they will win it again. If he chooses to retire at least he leaves the game as a champion.
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