At this point in time, there’s no denying that ‘Small Ball’ is the future of competitive basketball. Basketball’s shift toward small ball has been widely associated with the meteoric rise of Stephen Curry, who undoubtedly influenced a generation of hoopers after he started lacing shots from the NBA logo. However, an integral member of the Curry-led Golden State Warriors dynasty recently credited LeBron James‘ Miami Heat squad for successfully implementing the small ball in basketball, on JJ Redick’s The Old Man and the Three podcast.
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The 2023 NBA postseason saw the resurrection of the big man in the league. Nikola Jokic’s dominance in the playoffs this year established him as a modern big man, well-versed in small-ball basketball. The Denver Nuggets edged out all competition as Jokic dished out perfectly threaded dimes to open teammates whenever he found the lanes in the paint clogged.
Andre Iguodala credits the LeBron James-led Miami Heat for bringing small ball to mainstream basketball
During a recent appearance on JJ Redick’s podcast, Iguodala presented a unique perspective that might intrigue a lot of basketball fans. The 2014-15 Golden State Warriors are mostly credited for utilizing the small ball to breeze past all competition. The Dubs confounded the entire league by utilizing Iguodala as a kind of a dynamic center/power forward as the Splash brothers shot the lights out from the three-point line.
However, Iguodala whole-heartedly admitted that the Miami Heat utilized the small ball to dominate the NBA way before they did. The MVP of the 2015 NBA Finals told Redick:
“Bron [LeBron James] does well with shooters or guys like got em’ to the basket. He doesn’t do well with mid-range guys…And when he played for Miami and they lost to Dallas, they made like subtle tweaks where Chris Bosh would be at the 5. And they went-it didn’t look small because LeBron’s got the ball, he’s a big human being with the rock a lot…They tweaked it against San Antonio and that’s when I think you started seeing smaller basketball. Nobody really talks about that.”
Iguodala also pointed out that not only did the Heat play small ball, they did it successfully, going to the Finals four times in four years. Golden State picked up the movement after that and from there on, there was no looking back.
The NBA’s three-point problem
The Warriors dynasty changed basketball beyond recognition with their four Championship victories from 2015 onwards. The three-pointer has been so much in demand since then that you can now see traditional centers like Rudy Gobert sweating over the three-point line in practice.
NBA teams have started to utilize shifty guards to facilitate plays that open up space on the court. The ball is then dished out to open players to shoot uncontested threes. Many pundits have claimed that this style of basketball makes the games boring and monotonous. But this seems to be the way to win games in the NBA moving forward.
