Warriors excel by accepting roles, putting team success first
CLEVELAND – When former All-Star Andre Iguodala was told by Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr back in October that he'd be coming off the bench so that young Harrison Barnes could flourish as a starter, the proud veteran swallowed his pride and accepted the role.
When former All-Star David Lee was told by Kerr in December that Draymond Green would be stealing the starting job that had been his for the previous four seasons, he took the high road with his reaction and stayed consistent in his professionalism for the ensuing six months.
So when Kerr told Andrew Bogut on Thursday that he wasn't going to start in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, that his struggles against the Cleveland Cavaliers' Timofey Mozgov were simply too great to justify the ripple effect his presence has on their rhythm, the 30-year-old whose arrival in March of 2012 changed everything about their organization's fortunes wasn't about to think about the "me"over the "we."
"There needed to be some sort of change or tweak, because (Kerr) is a smart guy; no gripes," said Bogut who played less than three minutes. "I can understand why coach was doing it. Going smaller opened up the court a lot more for Steph and Klay, and it worked (like) a charm. I'm not bitter about it at all. We got the win, and hopefully we get a ring doing it."
Behold the most underrated aspect of this magical Warriors season.
Just one year after the San Antonio Spurs won it all in the kind of collective way that made basketball coaches the world over swoon, the Warriors' story of selflessness continued at the most pivotal of times. Kerr's bold decision to bench Bogut in favor of a faster-paced lineup eventually led to their 103-82 win that tied the series at two games, and the man who replaced him, Iguodala, put together a masterpiece that shifted the momentum of this series yet again.
Iguodala was already the Warriors' best player in the Finals, but his two-way performance – 22 points and eight rebounds, tremendous defense on LeBron James who shot 7 for 22 – was the kind of thing that never would have been possible if he had been sidetracked by his reassignment so many months ago. Make no mistake, Iguodala never wanted to be a sixth man. When we spoke not long after Kerr had made his surprising decision, it was there for all to see that this was a move made against his better wishes.
But he never filed a formal complaint, instead letting the situation play out while Golden State got off to the kind of sensational start to the regular season that made it impossible to ignore the wisdom behind the move. All it takes is one poison pill to make a situation like this toxic, one player who prioritizes himself over the group and inevitably changes everything about the culture. Yet none of these pros did that, and the fact that the latest example of sacrifice came in this kind of fashion was perfectly poetic.
Iguodala, whose fearless spirit and consistent play led Kerr to deem him the best Warriors player so far in this series, is a clear candidate for Finals MVP. As noted by ESPN's Ethan Strauss, James is shooting 35.3% from the field with a minus-25 plus/minus mark during the Finals when Iguodala guards him. Offensively, he's averaging 14.8 points (57.5% overall shooting), 5.5 rebounds and three assists per game. His four three-pointers on Thursday (on nine attempts) were his most since an April 4 regular-season game.
They couldn't have scripted this any better, with Lee (nine points, five rebounds, three assists in 15 minutes) coming out of nowhere in a key reserve role and the 31-year-old Iguodala looking fresh and fiery at the most pivotal time.
"The bringing off the bench part was to help Harrison and put Harrison in a better role, and also to solidify our second unit, which Andre did," Kerr explained yet again after Game 4. "We tried all season long to give Andre rest. We kept him at, I don't know, 29 minutes a game, 28 maybe.
"We gave him four or five games off at key times, and we just wanted to keep him as fresh as possible. I mean, he looks great out there. He's been our best player through four games. He guards LeBron pretty much every possession that he's out there, and his offense has been terrific."
For as rattled as so many of these Warriors have looked at times, Iguodala was the one with the steely look in his eyes all the way through. The lessons learned from the team-high 67 playoff games are surely coming into play, and his teammates would be wise to thank him for the way in which he has helped them all avoid the dreaded 3-1 Finals deficit from which no team has ever recovered.
All around him, the Warriors' core players are struggling to recapture their mojo while looking confused as to what it truly takes to win it all. The Splash Brothers, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, are spending far too much time in still waters (nine points for Thompson, a quiet 22 for Curry with four turnovers). Draymond Green had that deer-in-the-headlights look until his Game 4 revival (17 points, six assists, seven rebounds). But Iguodala, who signed with the Warriors two summers ago, has truly understood the kind of mental and physical effort that this will take.
"(There) is more that goes into the game than people realize," he reflected afterward. "Like not being able to sleep and get in your normal routine. You can't take naps. It's like everything, every emotion, every thought, like everything, physical, mental, psychological, everything is thrown into the game.
"It's just so -- like my brain is like fried. But it's like we understand the commitment and sacrifice we have to make."
Truth be told, they understood the power of "we" over "me" a long time ago.
