Iguodala was visionary Warriors always needed for storied dynasty

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Iguodala was visionary Warriors always needed for storied dynasty originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – Andre Iguodala’s Warriors legacy didn’t start with him winning 2015 NBA Finals MVP. It didn’t start with his first Warriors championship, nor his second, third and fourth.

It began with a hug, a tweet, putting pen to paper and forever shifting the course of a franchise.

July 4, 2016, is a date that always is connected to the Warriors’ dynasty as the day Kevin Durant announced to the world that his next chapter would be in a Golden State jersey. But don’t forget July 5, 2013. That’s the day Iguodala and the Warriors agreed to a four-year contract, two months after he and the Denver Nuggets were upset by a young, scrappy, up-and-coming Golden State squad.

Once the contract details were set in stone, Iguodala reached out to one Warrior over Twitter, now known as X.

Iguodala scored a game-high 24 points against the Warriors in Game 6 of the first round of the 2013 NBA playoffs, losing 92-88 and getting knocked out much earlier than expected. Instead of moping and walking off the court at Oracle Arena, Iguodala immediately found Curry. The two embraced for a hug that should be cemented in NBA history.

A message was sent: Iguodala saw the vision before anybody else.

“Well, I played with him in 2010,” Iguodala said Sunday during his pregame press conference hours ahead of having his No. 9 Warriors jersey retired and hung in the Chase Center rafters. “It was tough for him to just get on the court in the world championships. Just because he was small-framed, he was young and they were kind of grooming him into the potential part of it.

“We knew he was good. He could shoot it. There’s no potential in shooting, so he’s had that.”

Curry and Iguodala, three years before becoming Warriors teammates, were on Team USA together in the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Though they won gold, Curry averaged only 10.6 minutes and 4.6 points per game. Even as someone low on the totem pole, Curry had a player to look up to in Iguodala during their first time together on the same side.

He…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/iguodala-visionary-warriors-always-needed-193028484.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2025-02-23 19:30:00

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