Andre Iguodala Officially Retires And Ends a 19 Year Career That Likely Finds Him Short Of Becoming An NBA Hall of Famer
After 19 years in the NBA, Andre Iguodala has officially called it a career
Even if you wanted to suggest he essentially has been retired these last two seasons after playing in 31 games in 2021-22 and only 8 games last year, 19 years in the league is impressive as hell. In the history of the NBA, only 24 players have ever reached that benchmark, and of those 24, 15 have been elected to the Hall Of Fame.
So now that Iggy is hanging 'em up, does he have a case to be the 16th? His case is pretty interesting when you break it all down
- 4x NBA Champ
- 1x Finals MVP
- 1x All Star
- 2x All Defensive Team
- 2004-05 All Rookie
- 70th all time in assists
- 95th all time in rebounding
- 97th all time in steals
- 196th all time in points
Here's where things get interesting for Iggy. In most cases, if you win a Finals MVP, that tends to be a lock that you ultimately end up in the HOF. As of now, only Cedric Maxwell and Chauncey Billups are the only Finals MVPs who are not in, and that may change for Billups pretty soon.
What makes Iggy's career unique is that early on when he was a Sixer, he was playing all 82 games, putting up like 19/5/5 on a consistent basis, but it was clear in terms of team success he wasn't exactly what you were looking for as a #1 offensive option. To me, that sort of hurts his case.
Once he got to GS in 2013-14 though, we saw his transition from starter to one of the best role players in the entire league, someone who absolutely made an impact on the Warriors titles (outside of 2022). If you look at him through that lens, there are plenty of role guys with multiple rings who don't have a Finals MVP that are in the HOF. Iggy has basically had two different careers all wrapped up in one over those 19 years.
The debate becomes how much you value his GS impact on their titles despite his counting stats maybe not blowing you away. There's something to be said about a guy who had been THE GUY his entire career buying into a supporting cast role and then flourishing at it when the stakes were at their highest.
Unfortunately, I see Iguodala falling into the Hall Of Very Good and not the Hall of Fame. I know it feels as though they let everyone in at this point, but I think it would have taken a few more All Stars/All NBA defensive teams for me to give him the nod. Basketball Reference has him at around a 12.7% chance of getting in, and I feel like that's pretty accurate. He's sandwiched right next to guys like Al Horford, who will have another one of these type of debates when he officially hangs it up. His percentage is right next to Paul Silas, who I feel is another great comp (3x champ, 2x All Star, 5x All Defensive).
So while a 19 year career and 4 rings/Finals MVP is absolutely impressive, I'd be shocked if Iggy got the call based on what history has shown us. At the end of the day, he still got to play nearly two decades in the league, made $188M in basketball contracts alone, and now he's running a hedge fund so I'm thinking Iguodala is going to be just fine.