?Wasn?t Quite Scottie Pippen, Wasn?t Trying to Be Michael Jordan?: Stephen Curry?s Warriors Teammate Turned Out to be More Important than People Realized

NBA superstar Stephen Curry led the Golden State Warriors to their fourth title last season. Despite his displays in all of the four Finals series, he won his first-ever Finals MVP award last year. When Kevin Durant joined the Warriors, Curry had to take a backseat, especially in the scoring department. Durant dominated the 2017 and 2018 Finals and won the Finals MVP award for two straight years. However, in 2015, when the Dubs won their first title in 40 years, Steph was the main man. However, he missed out on the award to teammate Andre Iguodala, to the shock of many, but not without any reason.

Interestingly, Iguodala has made the All-Star team only once before. Many fans and critics alike consider him one of the most controversial Finals MVP award winners ever. A video from Secret Base recently talked about his unique NBA career and put it perfectly, “He wasn’t quite Scottie Pippen but he also wasn’t trying to be MJ or AI for that matter, at least not when he got to decide”.

Andre Iguodala’s start to life in the NBA

Andre Iguodala was never a superstar at any level. Growing up watching the iconic Chicago Bulls team, NBA legend Scottie Pippen was a role model for Iguodala. From high school to college, he was happy to be a role player, doing it all, and was good at it. When Iguodala declared for the NBA draft in 2004, many thought he should continue playing college basketball as the main guy to improve his stock before declaring for the draft. However, the Philadelphia 76ers picked him as the 9th pick because of decision to not wait any longer. The 76ers already had their main man in NBA legend Allen Iverson.

So they were not looking for another superstar, as they were building their team around Iverson with veterans and good role players. Iguodala started games immediately and had no problem adjusting to the league by doing a little bit of everything. He started his career as the fifth option in the offense for the team. However, things changed a few years later, and he became the second option behind only Iverson.

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Then things took another turn when AI left the 76ers. Iggy was now the main man for the team, something he never thought he would be. When he was asked about it, the budding star compared himself with what Pippen went through after Michael Jordan’s first retirement. His numbers increased in every department with the added responsibility. Subsequently, he signed a huge contract extension as well. However, Philly was too hard to handle.

Iguodala’s journey to becoming the Finals MVP over Stephen Curry

After every loss, Andre Iguodala received a lot of flak from the Philadelphia 76ers. It was wearing him down. He wanted to be traded, but the 76ers did not. The former Bulls coach Doug Collins, who was also Scottie Pippen’s first coach, was then hired as the new head coach. With a young team, Iguodala did not have to be the main scorer. The team was playing well but his points average dropped as youngsters like Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams took over. Despite this, he was named to the 2012 All-Star team when at the age of 28. That year, the 76ers made the playoffs and won the first round.

In the off-season, the Sixers traded him to the Denver Nuggets. It was a good match for Iggy since the team was already stacked with young stars and he could do his thing. They played good basketball but were beaten by the up-and-coming Golden State Warriors in the playoffs.

Iguodala liked what he saw in the Warriors and joined them as a free agent despite bigger offers from the Nuggets and the Dallas Mavericks. He started every game in his first season. However, he was averaging under 10 points.

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Then under Steve Kerr, he came off the bench every game. In the Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Iguodala did everything to defend the mighty onslaught of LeBron James. Stephen Curry’s stat line was better than Iggy’s. Despite this, Iguodala won the Finals MVP award much to his own surprise.