Golden State Warriors star Andre Iguodala recently appeared on the Gil’s Arena podcast to talk about his career, the NBA, and a variety of other things. During the conversation, Iguodala revealed that he had no issue with Stephen Curry winning the 2015 Finals MVP ahead of him. The 39-year-old also said that despite him being one of the best defenders in the league for a long period of time, he made it to the All-Defensive First Team only one time. Perhaps, the FMVP award was a token of appreciation for the impact he had against other teams’ offenses in the 2014-15 playoffs. Iggy also opened up about how Kobe Bryant helped him get a spot on the 2012 USA Olympic Team roster as a defender.
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Perhaps the most obvious way to judge the defensive caliber of a player is to see the players assigned to them. During the Warriors’ Finals stint against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Iguodala was given the sole responsibility to guard LeBron James on the floor. However, before he won his four rings with the Warriors, Iggy witnessed the best performances of his career in the past few seasons. Specifically in 2012, he was selected for the All-Star game and also made it to the US Olympic team. The last one being due to a direct recommendation from Kobe Bryant.
Andre Iguodala talks Finals MVP and how Kobe Bryant endorsed him for the 2012 Olympic Team
After the Warriors defeated LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2015 Finals, Iguodala was awarded the Finals MVP ahead of Stephen Curry in what has been the most controversial MVP voting of all-time. Since then, a lot of NBA pundits and fans have argued on who truly deserved it. Curry averaged almost 10 points and two assists more than Iguodala. However, it was impossible to see the impact Iggy had on the game through the stat sheet. This is what he had to say on the Gil’s Arena podcast about his Finals MVP;
“I always say Steph did deserve [a Finals MVP] before the one he got. I did think he deserved one. So I always say if it was mine, cool. I know the impact I had on the game. I don’t need anyone to tell me that I did…I don’t really care, yeah Steph should have had mine.“
For the four-time NBA champion, the accolades and the trophies do not solidify his impact on the game. He knew he was one of the best defenders in the game and the kind of impact he had on the Dubs’ postseason campaign. Perhaps, Kobe saw that ferocity in Iggy and helped him get a spot on the 2012 Olympic team roster. Iguodala said that Bryant recruited him to the Olympic team for his defense. “The only reason I made the Olympic team in 2012 is because Kobe Bryant was like, ‘This the best defender in the league.’ And I had never made an All-Defensive First Team[at the time],” said the 2012 All-Star.
Curry said that both he and Iggy deserved the 2015 NBA Finals MVP
This is not the first time that Iggy has said that his fellow teammate should have got the MVP instead of him. Earlier, speaking to JJ Redick on the “Old Man and The Three” podcast, he had said that he lucked out and got the Finals MVP.
Both Curry and Iggy are great teammates and would never agree that one of them did deserve the award over the other. Curry was also on JJ Redick’s podcast and said that both Andre and he deserved the MVP award in 2015. This only exemplifies the kind of wonderful teammate Steph is and why players like to play alongside him. Because he knows how to put others before him.
