Andre Iguodala, NBA Finals MVP

For the Golden State Warriors, evening up the NBA Finals 2-2 with the Cleveland Cavaliers was massively important for them. Not just because a 3-1 hole with another game in Cleveland down the road if they wanted to win it all was a sticky situation to find themselves in, but because up until that point, they hadn’t played particularly well either.

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They needed a spark, and they weren’t quite getting that from their MVP, Stephen Curry. That’s why, with three games left to go in this series, Andre Iguodala should get Finals MVP honors should the Warriors go on and win this thing.

For the record, I fully expect Golden State to do just that and hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy. I said as much before the playoffs began. But just how they got to this point in this series has been the most surprising thing of all. If you’ve watched these Finals, you’ll know Iguodala’s impact has gone beyond just his relatively modest numbers, but we’ll cover them here as well to put his importance into context.

He did not start a single game for the Warriors during the regular season, but was asked to come into the starting line-up in place of Andrew Bogut for game four as Golden State went small from the get go. Before this season, he had started 695 games since the 2004-05 season, 10 more than LeBron James, the player he antagonized for most of the evening.

Asking a former All-Star who would start for most teams in this league to sacrifice for the good of the team and become their sixth man is big. Getting him to buy into that is huge. Throughout the postseason, he has been a constant spark on both ends off the bench. Bumping him up to starter and seeing him not miss a beat however, is arguably his greatest feat this season and potentially of his career.

During the regular season, he averaged 7.8 points per game. In the postseason that curved upwards slightly to 9.4. This series, it’s been 12.3 points, all while guarding James some of the time as well (The Warriors have used a steady stream of players to defend James during this series). Playing a shade under 30 minutes before being promoted to starter, he did all the things we saw in game four, just in a little less court time. Really though, it’s how he’s approached this final series that has me thinking he’s a legitimate Finals MVP candidate.

To date, but with the exception of the second half of game four, it’s looked like every Warriors’ player bar Iguodala (And Curry in the final quarter of game three and patches of game four) has been trying not to lose this series, as opposed to actively trying to win it. Iguodala’s fearlessness and desire to have the ball in his hands has been the catalyst for their revival here and it’s turned the group mentality around.

Every other player, Curry, Thompson, Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green, among others, have missed open looks they made in their sleep during the regular season. Iggy has had his misses too, but that smile has never faded, nor has that confidence.

Green too has a ton of self-confidence, he missed a lot of three pointers before one finally fell for him and he continued trying to hit them. This is also true of Curry. But body language says a lot, and while the team as a whole were shrinking from the challenge, Iguodala was actively embracing it and trying to will his team to victories.

Perhaps ironically, we saw his true worth in game three, a contest they lost. Cleveland played hard, aggressive and were first to every loose ball. The Warriors wanted nothing to do with them as they bullied them not only in the paint, but as far away as half court. Iguodala stepped up though, making some big shots and generally going toe to toe with the Cavaliers and their bully boy tactics in a way Curry either could not or would not.

Game four saw more of the same, only this time his teammates followed suit. Cleveland jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the game, but his nine first quarter points set the tone for his teammates and settled what were clearly some early game nerves. His character broke loose for real then, as every time the camera panned to him he appeared to be smiling. Relaxed, hitting threes and guarding LeBron well, he was feeling it.

More than that, he appeared to mock James when he was fouled midway through the night. LeBron had cut his head after colliding with a camera man earlier in the game. His head was cut and he looked in a bit of pain. Understandable of course.

A short while after this, Iguodala took some contact to his arm heading to the rim and appeared to grimace and hold the apparently injured limb. Suddenly he was slapping hands with teammates though, laughing it off in a way that suggested he was making fun of LeBron. If that’s not calmness personified, with a dash of outward confidence that tells us his team is well on top, then I don’t know what is.

As the game entered the second half and the result looked increasingly safe for Golden State, Iggy took a back seat to allow the best regular season offense in the league to do it’s thing. The extra pass was being made, particularly by Shaun Livingston on several occasions, and shots that hadn’t fallen in the first three games were swishing through the net.

The juggernaut was suddenly back, and it was smiles all round for the Warriors as they rediscovered their mojo at a crucial time. Just like the series against the Memphis Grizzlies in the conference semi-finals when they found themselves down 2-1 and routed to a game four victory.

While his play to date still might not have convinced you of his Finals MVP credentials should the Warriors win it all, here’s another way to look at it. Who else on their team actually deserves the award? Curry perhaps? Obviously there are at least two more games to go, and Curry may yet shine brightest. But so far he’s played to an MVP standard for maybe six quarters of basketball combined, and some of them came in a game one victory.

Green? He’s the emotional leader sure and it’s not like he’s played badly. It’s just he hasn’t played as well as we know he can. Ditto Thompson, who has been particularly invisible during these Finals so far. In fact, you might even say the prodigal son David Lee has had more of an impact for the Warriors since being reintroduced in game three.

Iguodala has been their most consistent performer, and it’s not even close. That’s why, if Golden State can win a championship that is now tantalizingly close to becoming a reality, I hope Iguodala gets serious MVP consideration. After all, when they faced real adversity in games two, three and early in game four, he was the one guy who, no matter if he was coming off the bench or starting, wanted the ball in his hands and wanted to make things happen. That’s got to count for something, right?

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