With the Warriors slated to retire the No. 9 jersey of former four-time champ Andre Iguodala next weekend, All-Star point Stephen Curry recently looked back on the role his former teammate played on those four title squads, writes Grant Afseth of RG.org.
Iguodala spent eight seasons with Golden State, earning NBA Finals MVP in 2015 thanks to his clampdown defense of then-Cleveland forward LeBron James. He averaged 6.9 points, 3.8 boards, and 3.4 assists in his 452 regular season games for the Warriors.
“I speak for both of us [Draymond Green and himself] when we talk about honor. It’s going to be fantastic for the entire organization to welcome my brother back,” Curry told Afseth. “He helped us win a lot of championships.”
Iguodala’s jersey retirement ceremony will take place on February 23, the day of a matinee tilt against Dallas. That means longtime Warriors champ Klay Thompson, who signed with the Mavericks as a free agent last summer, will also be on hand for the big moment.
“His IQ, his impact on the game,” Curry said. “We obviously don’t win those without him.”
There’s more out of Golden State:
- Curry was back at the site of many of those titles, Oakland Arena (formerly Oracle Arena), for his All-Star media obligations on Saturday. Curry suggested that he’d be open to returning to Oakland Arena for an encore appearance in the future, per Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. “I absolutely love the idea of coming back to play a game here,” Curry said. “It should be a regular season game.”
- Green, another core member of the Warriors’ championship teams, offered up some harsh criticism of the league at large this week, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. “It’s just who can run faster, who can hit more threes, it’s no substance,” Green said. “I think it’s very boring.”
- In case you missed it, the Warriors plan to sign former lottery pick forward Kevin Knox to a 10-day deal.
People scoffed at me when I said the Warriors don’t win any Championships without Iggy and that is why they are retiring his jersey. His impact on the team was important. And what did Curry say…
Iggy was an integral part of that run but the only title they won where he was indispensable was the first one. Only injury stopped the Durant/Curry Warriors. He barely played in the last one.
So, you are disagreeing with Curry on who had an impact on him winning a Championship? Funny. What makes you think you know more it than Curry?
What’s Curry supposed to say…”naw dog, that Iggy’s a chump. Dude stole my finals MVP.”
I guess you have never watched the Warriors. Maybe then you would understand.
@giants
Here. You win one cookie for you and Steph Curry having the same opinion.
Are you saying Curry is wrong about how he won a Championship.
> Are you saying Curry is wrong about how he won
> a Championship?
Time for those critical thinking skills.
You’re inferring a specific from a a generality.
Steph would not say Iggy was critical to EVERY ‘Chip …because no reasonable person would.
In winning the 2021-2022 ‘Chip, Iggy didn’t dress for 15 of the Dubs’ 22 playoff games. He played a total of 57 minutes in his 7 games, scoring 12 points in total. His regular season contributions were comparable.
Obviously, Steph doesn’t believe Iggy was critical to winning the 2022 ‘Chip. He’s saying Iggy was integral to the winning experience as a whole.
“Whoever scores more points, like they’re supposed to win or something. It isn’t fair.”
Umm…Aristotle…I thought you were a Warriors fan. You should know why Iggy was critical to all the Championships.
Bro you’re hilarious.
How am I hilarious? It is pretty obvious if you knew anything about Warriors basketball during this time. But, I guess you think it is all about shooting 3-pointers.
Giants74 , you’re the only Warriors fan I know that insists Iggy was critical to ALL the Championships.
Ari, was Udonis Haslem critical to the success of the Miami Heat his last five years?
Iggy was coach on the floor and absolutely a mentor with impact for many of the young guys during those seasons he didn’t play as much as his first few years with Golden State.
I would think with this view point in mind that you could say Iggy had an impact for all the championships.
So sure his contributions on the floor gradually lessened, but his valuable expertise was perhaps critical to their success? Just another way to look at it.
Gary, We’re very close in our takes on Iggy. I agree that Iggy was “critical” to the winning of the first 3 championships for the reasons that you say. He won us important games throughout those playoffs.
As for the 4th, I believe he was “impactful”, but they would have won without him.
It’s a minor distinction. I agree with your point.
You’re a good man Ari.