Warriors Notes: Iguodala, Cook, Finals, Bogut

The Warriors have injury concerns heading into the NBA Finals, but Andre Iguodala doesn’t expect to be among them. The 35-year-old defensive specialist has missed practice the past three days to rest a sore left calf, but he tells Mark Medina of The San Jose Mercury News that he expects to be ready when the series opens Thursday.

“Just a lot of minutes and overuse. I’m old,” he said. “It just flared up real quick, but we have a good training staff. When you’ve been playing for five long seasons, it’s bound to come up. … My career is almost over, anyway. So I don’t really care.”

Iguodala wasn’t completely serious about the last part, as he has speculated about playing beyond the end of his current contract, which runs through next season. Head coach Steve Kerr has lightened the workload for his veteran forward, who had a non-invasive procedure on his left leg over the summer after being injured during last year’s playoffs.

There’s more Warriors news this morning:

• Backup guard Quinn Cook has been able to succeed because he has a coach who understands his situation, Medina writes in a separate story. Kerr played the same role with the Bulls’ title teams in the 1990s and appreciates how difficult it is to stay sharp during long stretches on the bench. “There’s a real trick to maintaining confidence level, conditioning level, your rhythm, your timing through all those times you’re not in the rotation. It’s a very hard job,” Kerr said. “If you can do it you’ve got a place in the league for a long time because coaches really value that.”
• This will be first NBA Finals with a greater focus on what happens in July rather than June, notes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. No matter who wins, the series will play out against a background of upcoming free agent decisions for the Warriors’ Kevin Durant and the Raptors’ Kawhi Leonard.
• Andrew Bogut is defending Durant amid negative fan reaction on social media, Medina tweets. “People criticize him for it bothering him,” Bogut said. “You know, he’s a human being just like anyone else, and I think he has a right to put comments forward, and he has a right to sign where he wants as a free agent. The whole point of free agency is the first word is ‘free,’ so if he wants to sign wherever he want to sign, it’s his decision.”