Longtime Golden State Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers forward Andre Iguodala is reportedly retiring from the NBA to focus on his second career.
The 39-year-old played in just eight regular season games during the 2022-23 campaign and didn’t appear in the playoffs, as he was limited largely due to a hip injury and then a fractured wrist.
Prior to his retirement, Iguodala had ranked second among all active players in career games (1,231) — trailing only LeBron James — third in minutes played (39,507) and fourth in steals (1,765). Iguodala played in 173 playoff games with four different franchises (two stints with the Warriors).
“Iggy” was selected by the Sixers with the ninth overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft and was named first-team All-Rookie after helping lead Philadelphia to the playoffs with another “A.I.” (Allen Iverson), who was nearing the end of his first run in the City of Brotherly Love. Iguodala helped usher in a new era of Sixers basketball after Iverson was traded to the Denver Nuggets in 2006.
The University of Arizona product was one of the league’s most durable players over the first decade-plus of his career, playing in all 82 regular season games in five of his first six years (playing 76 contests in 2006-07). Iguodala also played in at least 62 contests every season until the pandemic-altered 2019-2020 campaign.
He helped lead the 76ers to four more postseason appearances in five years from 2007-2012, making his lone All-Star team during the 2011-2012 season.
Iguodala was sent to the Nuggets in 2012 as part of a blockbuster four-team trade that included the likes of Andrew Bynum, Dwight Howard and Jason Richardson and spent one season in Denver. Iguodala was then traded to Golden State in 2013 in a three-team move and played most of his 30s in the Bay Area.
He was named first-team All-Defense during his first year with the Dubs and then won the first of his four NBA titles with Stephen Curry and company in 2015, earning Finals MVP honors in the process.
After two seasons with the Miami Heat from 2019-2021, Iguodala returned to the Warriors and played just 39 contests (plus seven playoff tilts) over the last two years.
Iguodala will be remembered for his high-flying dunks during his early days with the Sixers and clutch playoff moments during his time with the Warriors. It’s rare for a player to have made such a big impact on two separate franchises, but with 16 seasons and over 1,000 games combined in the Bay Area and Philadelphia, Iguodala did just that.
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