Underrated Greatness: Andre Iguodala

Andre Iguodala spent the first 8 years of his career just around the corner from me with the Philadelphia 76ers. I had a front-row seat to watch Iguodala go from Allen Iverson's sidekick, to Sixers savior, to scapegoat, to All-Star/gold medalist and ultimately a massive trade chip. Iggy was all of these things some of the time, but never any of them all of the time. Drafted 9th overall in 2004, he was supposed to be the third wheel behind scoring champ and MVP Allen Iverson and the newly-acquired, perennial All-Star Chris Webber. What the Sixers organization never accounted for was Iverson's inevitable path to self-destruction, Webber's rapidly-diminishing knees, and both players' apathy about playing on such a supremely mediocre team. The 2007 season saw the departure of both Iverson and Webber, leaving Iguodala to clean up the mess. Benefiting from increased touches--and borderline All-star numbers--as well as the expert point guard play of Andre Miller, Iguodala was granted an $80 million contract making him the face of the 76ers whether he liked it or not.

Thus began a tumultuous relationship with Philly fans. The team continued its mediocrity, which was more the fault of a rotating crop of under-qualified GMs and coaches than it was Iguodala. Nonetheless, the $80 million dollar man dealt with the wrath of angry fans who expected more out of the team. On the surface it would be easy to view Iguodala as an all style, no substance star thanks to his ever-so-emphatic dunks and perpetually clanky jumpers. As the number one option, his flaws were more magnified than his strengths. His defense was consistently spectacular, but the average fan either doesn't see that aspect of the game or doesn't care for it.

 The closest Iguodala got to the love from fans was the 2012 season. An All-Star appearance and a 7-game series against the Boston Celtics in the second round (shoutout to Derrick Roses's knee) followed by a selection to represent the in the US Olympic team in London gave Iguodala his long-awaited national attention. But that same summer, he was traded to Denver in a deal that sent Dwight Howard to Los Angeles, Andrew Bynum to Philly and Iguodala to the Denver Nuggets (Still not sure how the hell Orlando won that trade). In Denver, Iguodala was supposed to be the piece that sent Denver into the next level of the NBA elite. And while the Nuggets did win 57 games in 2013, they lost in round 1, something all too familiar to Iggy.

This brings us to this past summer, when Iguodala garnered massive interest--and massive contract offers--from defense-troubled teams like the Pistons and Kings, but ultimately found his way to the Bay Area. Lurking in the rapidly expanding shadow of Stephen Curry and his band of lovable Warriors, Iguodala isn't needed to be a 20 point scoring machine or the face of a franchise. His greatest strengths lie in his elite defense, basketball IQ and ability to create offense thanks to a greatly improved handle and supreme passing ability for a player his size. Matching up every night against the other teams best player and handling point guard duties when Curry hits the bench, in front of some of the league's most adoring fans, Iguodala appears to be home. For the first time in his career, he seems happy. On a team that appreciates him and in a role he was born to play in, the versatile greatness of Iguodala is quickly becoming recognized. Oh, and did I mention he's shooting 50% from three?

Iguodala is a better player than he was when he was drafted in 2004, that's obvious. But he hasn't necessarily changed his game. He's honed his craft, becoming an elite defender, much-improved scorer and playmaker and revered leader. Though it took 10 years and 3 teams, it seems that Iguodala is finally thriving in the third wheel role that the Sixers imagined him to be all those years ago.


P.S.- this jumper is pretty much what prompted this post. I honestly couldn't be happier for this guy.