Andre Iguodala Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Adam Silver To Meet With Ja Morant About Suspension

December 10th, 2023 at 9:31am CST by Arthur Hill

Commissioner Adam Silver will meet this week with Grizzlies star Ja Morant as he nears the end of his suspension, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic.

In June, Morant was suspended for at least 25 games following a second incident of brandishing a gun in public. When he announced the suspension, Silver said he wants to assess Morant’s readiness to return before reinstating him. He indicated Saturday that the two-time All-Star is moving in the right direction.

“I have been monitoring this situation closely,” Silver told reporters before the in-season tournament finale in Las Vegas. “We together laid out a program for him over the last several weeks, and to the best of my knowledge, he’s complied with everything he’s been asked to do.”

Memphis has gotten off to a rough start without its best player, languishing toward the bottom of the Western Conference standings at 6-15. If Morant’s suspension is limited to 25 games, he will be eligible to return for a December 19 contest at New Orleans.

The two-time All-Star was suspended for eight games last season after an online video clip showed him waving a gun in a nightclub near Denver. A second video was later posted of Morant holding a gun and dancing while riding in a vehicle with friends, leading to his second suspension.

“We’re going to talk directly once, at least this week, before he comes back,” Silver said, “(and) I think we’ll review the program and just make sure the conditions are in place for him to be successful going forward.”

The commissioner addressed several other topics in his press conference:

Silver clarified comments on load management made before the start of the season by NBA executive vice president Joe Dumars, Vardon states. Explaining the league’s new player participation policy, Dumars indicated there’s no data showing that load management is effective. Silver said resting players can lead to better performances, but there’s no hard evidence that it prevents injuries. “The question is, I think the ultimate notion behind load management isn’t so much that there isn’t a fall for performance when you’re tired and fatigued,” Silver explained. “The question is does it lead to more injuries and especially the way load management is now used?”
Silver said he was “surprised” that Tamika Tremaglio stepped down as executive director of the NBPA after a new Collective Bargaining Agreement was reached this summer, according to Vardon. “As far as I can tell from the outside, it’s been a very smooth transition there to Andre Iguodala as I guess the interim executive director,” Silver said. “Nothing has changed in terms of our day-to-day relations with them, and I have no other knowledge about why either the players association or Tamika decided to, you know, change the relationship.”
Colorful courts will remain part of future in-season tournaments, Vardon adds in a separate story. Silver called himself “a big advocate” of the courts, saying they’re an indication that the game is something special. Silver also hinted that specially designed courts could be used in the NBA Finals. Other aspects of the tournament will be reviewed, particularly using point differential as the primary tie-breaker, the commissioner stated.

And-Ones: D. Harper, Harden, Iguodala, NBPA, Pacers/Bucks

December 7th, 2023 at 3:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Dylan Harper, a five-star recruit who comes in at No. 2 overall in ESPN’s breakdown of the 2024 high school class, announced on Wednesday that he has committed to Rutgers for the 2024/25 college season, per Jeff Borzello and Paul Biancardi of ESPN.

The son of five-time champion Ron Harper and the younger brother of Raptors two-way player Ron Harper Jr., Dylan is behind only Cooper Flagg in ESPN’s rankings of next year’s recruiting class. Flagg has committed to Duke, but Harper – like No. 3 prospect Airious “Ace” Bailey – will join the Scarlet Knights, whom his older brother represented from 2018-22.

“His advice to me was to pick a school that is best for me and make it your decision,” Dylan said of Ron Jr. “I saw what a great player my brother was there and how successful Rutgers was during that time. He had a great career there. He was one of the best to play at Rutgers.”

It’s a historic recruiting class for Rutgers, which typically hasn’t been a basketball powerhouse. As Borzello and Biancardi point out, prior to this year, Rutgers had landed just six total prospects on ESPN’s top-100 lists since 2007, which is when the outlet began maintaining its annual recruiting rankings. Only one of those players – Mike Rosario in 2008 – was considered a top-50 recruit.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

The NBA investigated the Sixers following 2022’s free agent period, looking into whether James Harden‘s pay cut that year came with any quid pro quo assurances, and investigated the team again earlier this year after the star guard called Daryl Morey a “liar.” Will yet another Harden-related investigation be necessary? Over at his Substack, Marc Stein says the comments Harden made to Sam Amick of The Athletic may force the league’s hand. The former MVP made two eyebrow-raising claims in that interview, telling Amick that the 76ers promised him a maximum-salary contract prior to his 2023 free agency and that his representatives met with Rockets head coach Ime Udoka while he was under contract with Philadelphia.
Andre Iguodala, who took over for Tamika Tremaglio last month as the NBPA’s acting executive director, is unsure whether or not he’s interested in keeping the position permanently, but he tells Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic that he couldn’t pass on the opportunity to lead the players’ union. “The players thought it was perfect timing, with my career ending, helping them continue to progress, continue to transition and helping out with that,” Iguodala said. “So, it was just a unique opportunity to do that. I’m indebted to the players and servicing the guys, and it was a no-brainer.”
The over-under for Thursday’s in-season tournament Eastern semifinal is 257.5 points, the highest total in an NBA game since 1991, according to David Purdum of ESPN. As we detailed earlier today, the Pacers have the NBA’s best offense and the Bucks rank third, so a shootout is anticipated. It’s the seventh game since ’91 with an over/under greater than 250, with four of those games occurring this season, Purdum notes.

Andre Iguodala Named Acting Executive Director Of NBPA

November 9th, 2023 at 2:19pm CST by Arthur Hill

2:19pm: The NBPA has formally announced Iguodala’s appointment as acting executive director, confirming the news in a press release.

“I am honored to take on this role and serve the players, who are the heart and soul of the NBA,” Iguodala said in a statement. “I’m presented with a unique opportunity to take all that I’ve learned as a player over the course of my 19-year career and apply it to creating an even stronger and more influential union for current and future generations of players. I am thrilled to work alongside our extremely committed Executive Committee to lead the brotherhood through its next stage of advancement and development.”

2:00pm: Andre Iguodala has been named the acting executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. He replaces Tamika Tremaglio, who is resigning after less than two years as head of the union. Shams Charania of The Athletic broke the news that Iguodala was being considered for the role (Twitter link).

Iguodala confirmed his retirement last month, officially ending his 19-year playing career. An All-Star in 2012, he will be best remembered for his role in helping the Warriors capture four titles.

ESPN hired Iguodala as a studio analyst in October, and he currently owns stakes in two soccer teams, Leeds United in the EFL and Bay Area FC in the NWSL, along with the San Francisco branch of the TGL golf league.

A formal search for Tremaglio’s successor will begin soon, sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link). There’s no indication on whether Iguodala will be considered as part of that search.

Although Tremaglio held the job for a relatively short time, she helped to negotiate the union’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement, which was approved in June. She began to discuss stepping down after the CBA negotiations ended, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link).

And-Ones: ESPN Analysts, International Players, Award Eligibility, Nunn

October 24th, 2023 at 3:04pm CST by Luke Adams

After confirming last Friday that he has retired as a player, longtime NBA swingman Andre Iguodala has been named one of ESPN’s new studio analysts for the coming season, per Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports (Twitter link).

According to McCarthy, former Knicks general manager Scott Perry, veteran NBA guard Austin Rivers, former Spurs assistant and current Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon, and Connecticut Sun coach Stephanie White are also joining ESPN as studio analysts. Rivers is still just 31 years old and has given no indication that he intends to retire as a player, so presumably his ESPN gig won’t stand in the way if he gets an opportunity to join a team at some point this season.

In related news, former ESPN analyst Vince Carter will appear on Nets broadcasts on the YES Network in a part-time role this season, reports Andrew Marchand of The New York Post. Carter was part of the ESPN summer layoffs that also affected Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy, among others.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

The NBA announced on Tuesday that 125 international players are on rosters to open the 2023/24 regular season. That’s a new record, as are the numbers of Canadians (26) and Frenchmen (14) in the league. All 30 rosters feature at least one international player, and 40 non-U.S. countries and territories represented.
Although the 2023/24 regular season hasn’t quite tipped off yet, the league has already informed teams of its regular season start and end dates for the 2024/25 campaign, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Next season will begin on October 22, 2024 and wrap up on April 13, 2025.
Marc Stein clarifies in his latest Substack article that the new 65-game minimum for end-of-season awards only applies to MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, All-NBA, and All-Defense. That means a player wouldn’t necessarily have to play 65 games to win Sixth Man of the Year or Rookie of the Year, or to be named to an All-Rookie team.
Having not claimed a spot on an NBA roster to open the season, will free agent guard Kendrick Nunn head overseas to continue his playing career? Alessandro Maggi of Sportando rounds up the latest rumors linking Nunn to European teams.

Andre Iguodala Confirms Decision To Retire

October 20th, 2023 at 8:48am CST by Luke Adams

Longtime NBA guard/forward Andre Iguodala has confirmed that he intends to retire as a player, telling Michael de la Merced of DealBook in The New York Times that he’ll focus going forward on his work as a start-up investor.

When Iguodala announced last September that he was re-signing with the Warriors, he indicated it would be his last season. However, following the conclusion of the 2022/23 campaign, he didn’t officially confirm that he still planned to hang up his sneakers and remained noncommittal this offseason about his next steps.

Speaking to DealBook, Iguodala said it has been “a blessing” to play in the NBA as long as he has (19 years) and admitted that he’s not sure if the decision to retire has “actually hit me yet.” According to de la Merced, the 39-year-old is directing his attention now to Mosaic, the $200MM venture capital fund that he’ll run with business partner Rudy Cline-Thomas.

Iguodala is also interested in owning an NBA franchise someday and currently has stakes in a pair of soccer teams – Leeds United (EFL) and Bay Area FC (NWSL) – as well as the San Francisco branch of the TGL, a golf league created by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

The ninth overall pick in the 2004 draft, Iguodala spent his first eight seasons with the Sixers, earning an All-Star nod during his final year in Philadelphia and recording the highest scoring averages of his career during that time (including 19.9 points per contest in 2007/08).

After being traded from the 76ers to the Nuggets and playing for one year in Denver, Iguodala headed to Golden State, where he spent eight of his final 10 years in the league, with two separate Warriors stints sandwiching a two-season run in Miami (2019-21). He won championships with the Warriors in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2022 and earned NBA Finals MVP honors in ’15.

For his career, Iguodala averaged 11.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1.4 steals in 32.1 minutes per game across 1,231 regular season appearances and played in another 177 postseason games. The former Arizona Wildcat also made the All-Defensive first team in 2014 and the second team in 2011.

Pacific Notes: Iguodala, Hall Of Fame, Clippers, Suns

September 23rd, 2023 at 11:30am CST by Tristan Tucker

Though it was widely reported he would retire at the conclusion of the 2022/23 season, Andre Iguodala remains noncommittal on his retirement. On a recent episode of J.J. Redick‘s Old Man and the Three podcast (Spotify link), Iguodala continued to be 50/50 on whether he would play in the NBA this season.

“We recorded my decision, but I might come back and hoop … or I might go home,” Iguodala said.

Iguodala, 39, is a four-time NBA champion with the Warriors and won the 2015 Finals MVP award. Through his 19 seasons in the league, Iguodala holds career averages of 11.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game.

His most productive on-court seasons came with the Sixers and Nuggets, but he quickly became a staple on Golden State’s championship teams after arriving in ’13/14. Iguodala spent six consecutive seasons with the Warriors from 2013-19 before being traded to the Grizzlies and then the Heat. After playing in 84 games with the Heat, Iguodala signed back with the Warriors ahead of ’21/22 and has played 39 games with the team in the past two years.

For what it’s worth, as of August, it sounded like general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. didn’t expect Iguodala to return to Golden State this season, although he wasn’t ruling out the possibility.

“We’re not going to close the door on anything,” Dunleavy said in August. “But my guess, and my belief, is that he won’t be back.”

We have more from the Pacific Division:

While Iguodala was a massive part of Golden State’s championship teams, he doesn’t think he deserves to be enshrined in Springfield, he admitted on the Old Man and the Three podcast (Spotify link). “I’m not a ‘ring culture’ guy, but I’ve benefited from that,” Iguodala said. “I know I have a lot of flaws. And I think there should be tiers of the Hall of Fame. … I’m not a Hall of Famer, if you ask me. No, no, no. Those guys [Hall of Famers] had no flaws.“
While four of the five starting positions for the Clippers appear to be filled, there still remains a hole at the starting power forward spot, opines Law Murray of The Athletic. Murray explores the team’s depth chart and goes through multiple possible options for the starting position, including Marcus Morris, Nicolas Batum, Robert Covington, and outside options like Kobe Brown and Kenyon Martin Jr. Murray expects the team to eventually make an outside addition via trade at some point during the season.
The Suns are one of 10 NBA teams who have yet to win an NBA championship. However, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic believes this season provides one of the franchise’s best opportunities to change that. Rankin lists five reasons why the Suns can win the NBA Finals this year, including their newly developed big three, their defensive-minded coach and their chemistry.

Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Jr. On Andre Iguodala’s Future

August 2nd, 2023 at 5:30pm CST by Rory Maher

General manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. told Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area that while the Warriors are open to Andre Iguodala returning to the roster for a 20th NBA season, the team isn’t actively recruiting him like it did last offseason and doesn’t necessarily expect him back.

“My sense is Andre’s probably got some other stuff going,” Dunleavy said in a Dubs Talk interview that will be released next Tuesday. “But he has my number. The phone is always on.”

When Iguodala announced his return to Golden State for 2022/23, it was widely reported that the veteran wing would retire after the season concluded. However, unlike Udonis Haslem, Iguodala technically hasn’t closed the door on playing another season by confirming his retirement since the season ended. When Poole recently asked Iguodala about his status, he said he was “unemployed.”

As Poole writes, the 39-year-old was disappointed by how last season played out. Iguodala spent nearly half of ’22/23 working himself into shape, and he only made eight appearances before fracturing his left wrist in March, which required surgery and caused him to miss the remainder of the regular season and the entire postseason.

“We’ve communicated some this summer already,” Dunleavy said. “We’ll see. We’re not going to close the door on anything. But my guess, and my belief, is that he won’t be back.”

“But it’s Andre Iguodala,” Dunleavy added. “So, you never know.”

Warriors Notes: J. Green, Looney, D. Green, Iguodala

May 6th, 2023 at 7:30pm CST by Arthur Hill

JaMychal Green‘s role has been limited for most of the season, but he was ready to step into the Warriors‘ starting lineup Thursday when Kevon Looney was suffering from an illness, writes C.J. Holmes of The San Francisco Chronicle. Coach Steve Kerr learned about the seriousness of Looney’s condition roughly two hours before game time. He turned to Green to provide size and outside shooting, and the veteran big man responded by scoring 15 points in 13 minutes and hitting 3-of-6 shots from beyond the arc.

“They always tell me to stay ready and that my time will come,” Green said. “The first series, even though I was kind of struggling a little, we had a team meeting and (Stephen Curry), he said some powerful words and it kind of got me locked in. I let go of everything and made it all about the team.”

Green hasn’t seen the playing time he expected when he signed a one-year, $2.63MM contract with Golden State last summer. Health scares contributed to his frustrating season, as he missed five games after entering health and safety protocols in December, then sat out nine more with an infection in his lower right leg. He’ll be back on the open market in July, but first he wants to contribute to another Warriors’ title run.

“He’s been doing this his whole career, he’s been spacing the floor,” teammate Donte DiVincenzo said. “He’s been hitting bodies, getting rebounds, dunking on people. When he gets in the game, he already knows what to do.”

There’s more on the Warriors:

Looney has recovered from his illness and will be ready for a larger role in tonight’s Game 3, tweets Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. “It was pretty bad,” Looney told reporters, adding that he likely wouldn’t have played at all Thursday if it had been a regular season game. Looney, who hasn’t missed a game during the past two seasons, wound up logging nearly 12 minutes with six points and eight rebounds.
Assistant coach Chris DeMarco sparked a better performance from Draymond Green in Game 2 by showing him film of his defensive mistakes in the series opener, per Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. “At times you get in these locker rooms and you have stars and coaches won’t always challenge,” Green said. “Chris DeMarco will challenge anybody, from Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, myself, Steve (Kerr). He’ll challenge anyone. He’s not afraid to hear his voice and he’s not afraid to have tough conversations. He’s not afraid of confrontation.”
Andre Iguodala will be able to return to practice next week, the Warriors announced (via Twitter). Iguodala hasn’t played since fracturing his left wrist in mid-March.

Warriors Notes: Iguodala, Payton, Poole, Curry, Green

April 23rd, 2023 at 2:30pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Warriors have announced in a press release (Twitter link) that reserve swingman Andre Iguodala had the stabilizing splint removed from his left wrist and is set to be reevaluated two weeks from now.

Iguodala fractured the wrist during a March 13 game against the Suns. Golden State’s announcement notes that the 2015 Finals MVP has begun rehabilitating the wrist and that the team could give him the green light to start shooting drills and light ball-handling activities within the next week.

There’s more out of Golden State:

Warriors guards Gary Payton II and Jordan Poole have been listed as probable to suit up for today’s critical Game 4 against the Kings, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic (via Twitter). Payton missed Game 3 due to a non-COVID-19 illness.
All-Star Warriors point guard Stephen Curry indicated that he and his comrades appreciated the urgency of Game 3 against Sacramento, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. “I mean, pretty bluntly, if we lost this game, it’s pretty much over,” Curry said. “You’ve got to understand the moment and we gave ourselves life. Biggest thing is, we’ve been in the situation where momentum doesn’t necessarily carry over from game to game unless you execute at the same level, so it’s just one game, but it was a big game for sure.”
Golden State will bring star forward Draymond Green off the bench and retain the Game 3 starting lineup they used while he was suspended, per Kendra Andrews of ESPN. Shams Charania and Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweet that Green proposed the change. Poole will thus stay among the Warriors’ first five, separating the team’s two key shooting-challenged big men, Green and center Kevon Looney, for a crucial fourth game in their series against the Kings.

Warriors’ Andre Iguodala Undergoes Wrist Surgery

March 21st, 2023 at 7:19pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Warriors forward Andre Iguodala underwent surgery on Monday to stabilize his fractured left wrist, the team’s PR department tweets. Iguodala will be reevaluated in four weeks, the team adds.

Iguodala suffered the injury on March 13 against Phoenix. The 39-year-old seriously contemplated retirement before the 2022/23 season began, but was convinced to come back for one more year with the Warriors. However, he has made just eight appearances this season, averaging 2.1 PPG, 2.1 RPG and 2.4 APG in 14.1 MPG.

It’s unclear if this will mark the end of the 19-year veteran’s career. He could conceivably return during the postseason if the Warriors make an extended run.

With Iguodala out and Andrew Wiggins away from the team due to personal issues, the Warriors promoted former two-way player Anthony Lamb on Friday to fill the 15th spot on their roster.