Andre Iguodala NBA Mark Entrance: After Andre Iguodala entered NBA fifteen years ago, he quickly became known as a sportsman, playing first for Sixers and then for Nuggets. He made the All-Star team in 2012 and seemed destined to have a perfect career but no championship. And then, in 2013, he joined the State of the Golden State Warriors and became part of a core including Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and finally Kevin Durant; the team won three titles over the next six years, broke the record of the regular season and was mentioned as one of the best teams of all time. But in the process of joining a multiple Multi-Stars group, Iguodala has changed its role. He agreed to come down from the bench, focus more on defense and become known - as the title of a new book that Iguodala wrote to Carvell Wallace - "The Sixth Man." After the final round against Cleveland in 2015, which first guarded LeBron James, he won a final MVP Adjudecare. This season Warriors past ended in a disappointing note with a devastating team that lost to the Toronto Raptors.

I spoke to Iguodala on the phone Friday. 48 hours after our call has ended, however, the NBA free agency season. began and Iguodala, which was contracted for another year, was traded at Memphis Grizzlies. The warriors, who lost Durant, seemed half-rebuilt, and Iguodala at the age of thirty-five was not part of their future. He refused to comment when I returned again on Monday.

Iguodale's book details the ups and downs of the Warriors dynasty and the increased media scrutiny that the entire team has had before their success. He also writes about his coaches - Mark Jackson and Steve Kerr - and his interests outside the basketball, including the technological scene of the Bay Area. Our interview drew attention to his future plans, his feelings about the state of the Golden State, and players' awareness of the League's business issues - and in this business, it seems that anyone can be traded at any time. During the conversation, which was edited for length and clarity, we also discussed how he is preparing to guard someone, Steph Curry's uniqueness and the conflict between religious beliefs and homosexual acceptance in the N.B.A.

Andre Iguodala NBA Mark Entrance

What are the biggest changes in N.B.A. ever since you joined the league?

Our players are now at a different level from us. Before, it was not so much how active I was, whether from a social point of view or from a business perspective, a mental space, all of these things. We would like each generation to learn from the previous one. . . . I think we all try to be in a better space. And you see it physically, with the way we prepare, with the technology we use on and off the ground, whether it's sleep or yoga, or changing our diet. And then you will see this with our business and the way we broke the old pattern of approval and how we take equity in companies and how we do business and how we run our brands and how we take ownership of our brands more. All of these things have really changed over the last decade.

Was there a matter of guardianship or mentoring that you did not receive, which is different now than when you entered the league?

I do not know if there was anything missing, but I think we just have access to more, especially to technology, and it's all in front of you. And teams or organizations use analytics to decide which players will fit better with a team and what players can get cheaper and still be as effective. We have succeeded in doing the same: we take these analyzes and see the impact we have on a game and the impact we have on business. So we've just been wrong.

How did conversations between players change? Are there different rides?

The airplane is a sacred place for players to relax and move away from the noise. You will see more conversations on airplane rides. You will see a lot of books about plane rides. See boys reading newspapers. Klay Thompson is a supporter of the local paper, and it is up to him to have the newspaper in physical form in his closet in every game or in his closet in every shot. It's not just basketball or chatter.

How much disagreement exists during political conversations?

Well, it is a sort of line between what is sacred and what you can share. But we just have a frank conversation, while in the past I was not as aware of what was happening or just did not care. But we see the effect it has on our people and the people with whom we resonate in most of our lives. Our education is certainly - we were right in the middle. But we have those conversations and we are talking about the ramifications of decisions made by others and how it will affect us and affect others. That's why I feel most proud - that we have them.

Do you think a lot of N.B.A. players voted for Trump?

It's hard to answer. I do not know. That's an interesting question.

Were you surprised he won?

No, I was not surprised.

Why not?

Just from what was happening. It's interesting. You will watch a lot of different shows, from "Billions" to "See" to - what show with Shonda Rhimes?

"Scandal"?

"Scandal". Watch all these shows and your point of view is kind of disturbed by the way things work. Not even unimaginable - as unexpected as anything, especially in this day and age, and how the social media really affected those whole choices. It seemed that anything could happen.

How does the Warriors team differ from your other teams?

The stars were really aligned with how the team was built. We were lucky or blessed or whatever you think. I say we were blessed in the way the team was formed. Then you have a superstar that is that modest superstar, once in your life - that goes unnoticed, but he sets the culture - Steph Curry. They were aligned with Mark Jackson's entry and were able to give those guys the confidence that they might be the best backcourt in the NBA. history. And when Mark Jackson said that about them, Steph and Klay Thompson, it was as if such a culture - something is happening. Draymond Green has the right balance from Steph, who is quiet and reserved. Draymond kind of bring a fire and energy into something we do not have. I was just lucky enough to be in a good place in my career, where I can contribute in other ways, but I still have an impact. And we see Kevin Durant and all the hell is breaking down.

How did all the hell disappear?

As for the domination I had. Everyone is angry at how dominant I was.

Steve Kerr made public comments in which he referred to Durant as the best player in the team. And what I wrong about that, if you think it's right or wrong, is the self-confidence that Steph Curry must believe to hear. I was curious if you read the same thing.

We all understand how the equipment works. It's very fragile, and if you do not have strong people in place, it does not work. We are not as successful as we are. But I think Steve understands the players and he understands that.

Adam Silver, N.B.A. Commissioner, said earlier this year that he believed there was a lot of unhappiness in the NBA, and that it worsens in some ways. Do you agree with that and is something you worry about?

Yes.

There is less pressure and players can not be themselves. I do not think they can relax. They are not able to take a step away from the game. It's like you always are, especially with our team. You know, you go out, you go, you go outside your hotel, you just walk in the street and you make a bite and twenty-thirty fans watching you taking photos.

Have you had any bad fan experience?

Yes. I'm sure everyone had an experience with a fan who did not feel comfortable or that he was disrespectful. But you just look at it, being just African-American, you will have those experiences. And that's another part that, you know, people do not understand. We are also African-Americans, most of us. And where we live, we are also some of them. But we also have talks about it. And that's another mental part of the fact that we're going too.

How do you think the game has changed fifteen years ago?

The game has a slightly more offensive orientation, and that's just the way it was officially. The game is a bit faster. You see more possessions. Obviously you will even see three shot pointers. Although no one has touched him the injury is serious, the player can not continue on the pitch, and the bench gets into motion., He should be taken off here.

But you have become known for your defense.

Right. I was able to adjust and still kept myself up. And I do some intangibles that do not appear in the analysis or appear on the state blackboard, but it is remarked by teams who want to have a winning culture.

Do you think things you do do not even appear in advanced analytics?

Oh yes. The safest. Just understand the distances. When you are there with a bunch of good players who can score the ball, it's the art of getting out of the way. Many players do not understand because they focus on trying to see. I'm in a very good position, because I managed to register.

Are you, as a defender, looking at a lot of statistics and the number of people you keep?

You have to have the right balance. Some teams are too hard to analyze and some teams do not use it enough. And the more games I played, the more comfortable I felt. So experience is the key. But certainly use analyzes to help you and take your mind to a place where you feel you can have little advantage at certain times.

How does it work? Like, do I give you an iPad or do research on your own?

Try to keep yourself at least familiar throughout the season. So you look at N.B.A. Games. We have discussions about who's playing well in the last week or two weeks or last month. I'm not watching too much on TV except basketball on the road.

And "Veep" and "Scandal."

Right. I do not watch these shows. As for basketball, yes, you always look. See what happens on NBATV and you - as I said, N.B.A. I speak 24 hours a day now. So, I have a good idea of ​​what's going on. So for me, I'm studying as much as I can now. It does not take me so long to raise the boys' tendencies. And, once you enter a series against them, you'll get your edits and you'll get an iPad with clips of each player, team pieces, trends, what they like to do. We talk to them and then you go through the yard and you have to go out there and run them.

If you were in a different team and you had to keep the Warriors, who would have guarded them?

That's a good question. Maybe I should see the others. And in our system you will end up guarding all. We had a series with Houston last year and took us to seven games. They did a pretty good job of getting us out of our rhythm. But this team is like a well-lubricated machine.

Was it that the closest one felt that a team stopped you once you had Durant?

I felt they did a really good job. They did the best.

You mentioned earlier Mark Jackson, who was fired as a Warriors coach, and made some comments last week that you said, "We are afraid to really say our beliefs now." And what you were talking about was Jackson's religious beliefs and the fact that there were gay men who worked at the Warriors. What did you mean by that, and did you feel that Jackson was maltreated?

We have many questions about something that someone else has done or something that someone else has told me about and that is difficult, because sometimes it's done in your point, and that's not my point. The question was, first of all, that it forced us to go to the church? And we are, no, we did not have to go to the church. And then the other question was that he had a problem with homosexuals? From what I have seen, read the Bible and its beliefs about things. We have to accept each other, but we should also respect the opinions of others spiritually. But it should not be hatred. I think you need to add that. We have to respect everyone else, but if you are Ku Klux Klan, obviously you do not respect your point of view.

Respect religious views if you do not accept homosexuals?

This is what he says in the Bible: Do not judge anyone and judge no one. And I tried to respect and work with people who have sexual beliefs outside of me. Not too faithful; is exactly what I choose.

But I do not agree with this statement. We should accept everyone.

And just as to Jackson's relationship with N.B.A. - the word you said was correct was "negligent". Do you think he was maltreated by N.B.A. community for his beliefs?

I think we need to figure out what our term "blackball" is. He failed to get an interview for a job. And if you saw any result of a successful coach in the way he was successful when he was here and what he did with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson and Draymond Green and myself, if there was another coach, they would be hired immediately. You know, look at his historian and what he did.

Just to be clear, he is one of the two leading analysts on the ABC show that makes N.B.A. The final. So he is part of the N.B.A. community in a way.

This is an interesting way to say. The analyst working for ESPN is part of the N.B.A. community? It is, but to a certain extent it is not. Obviously, he showed his passion and let himself know that he would like to train. And he was not given access.

Are you proud that your team has started the tradition of not visiting the White House, at least while the current occupant is there?

I was thinking earlier. This is a dangerous word in my opinion, that word "pride". But I had Dr. Yusef, from "exonerated five," at our technology summit yesterday. And when you talk about a technology disruption, that's a disruption of humanity in terms of what the group has managed to overcome, and everyone is still here.

Is this the so-called Central Park Five?

Yes. And you had someone to serve as president of this country, who made a full page announcement saying he was hanging these guys and stripping them and whipping them on the streets. And there is no evidence that these guys were guilty.

Andre, thank you. I'm a rockets fan and we hope to use this interview to provoke internal dissension, but I think we've failed.

My career is over, so you do not have to worry about it.

Oh, come on. Do not say that.

Looks like that's what they want.

Rockets?

Anyone who does not like the Warriors. Kidding with you. I'm staying here.