Andre Iguodala has only logged 113 minutes for the Warriors this season. In his hey-day, Iguodala would play that many minutes in a single week.
Father Time has caught up to Iguodala, as his body has continued to betray him in Year 19. The Warriors issued an update Saturday, saying the 39-year-old could be cleared to do individual work in 7-10 days and will be re-evaluated in two weeks as he recovers from a fractured left wrist. At this point, any Iguodala contribution would be a bonus for the Dubs, who have to operate like his career’s over as a player.
Throughout this season, the Warriors have continued to praise Iguodala for his work behind the scenes in what’s been a tumultuous one for the franchise. We got a glimpse of that leadership during a moment on the bench in the second quarter of Sunday’s 126-125 win over the Kings in Game 4 of the tense first-round series.
Despite elevating his game in the regular season, second-year wing Jonathan Kuminga hasn’t made much of an imprint on the series against the Kings. In Sunday’s game, he played just a three-minute spurt to begin the second quarter before spending the rest of the afternoon on the bench.
Shortly after Kuminga was pulled out of the game, he sat on the bench and draped a towel over his head, looking disengaged from the team huddle. But Iguodala was there in his ear, appearing to give the 20-year-old a pep talk.
Kuminga wasn’t fully responsible for the minus-8 he logged in his brief stint on the floor, but he did make some mistakes that had his teammates and coaches heated. At one point, he didn’t fight over a screen and let De’Aaron Fox hit a 3-pointer, to the disdain of Draymond Green.
On another possession, he stood in the corner and failed to crash the glass on a potential easy put-back after an Andrew Wiggins miss. Check out coach Kenny Atkinson’s reaction on the bench, as he throws his hands up and talks to another assistant.
Iguodala knows better than anyone that you have to stay ready. Things can change swiftly in a series and roles are dynamic. Even Draymond came off the bench Sunday for the first time during Steve Kerr’s tenure at Golden State.
Fellow second-year player Moses Moody got less playing time than Kuminga during the regular season but has continued to produce whenever he’s on the floor. Through four games, Moody (10 minutes per game) has actually logged more action than Kuminga (7.5 minutes per game) and made his presence felt with timely buckets and hustle plays.
It’s not like JK was sulking all game. Throughout the rest of the contest, Kuminga stayed engaged and high-fived his teammates whenever they came off the floor, but the youngster’s body language needs to stay up in the playoffs. His two-way abilities could be needed at a moment’s notice, especially with the way Kerr manages the game and rotations.
