Getty Golden State Warriors forward Andre Iguodala looks on prior to Game Six of the 2022 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics.
Casual observers of NBA basketball may be inclined to assume that everything went swimmingly for the Golden State Warriors last season. After all, the club won its fourth title in the last eight seasons and Stephen Curry was godlike during the Finals.
The Dub Nation denizens know better, though, as the team overcame myriad obstacles on the path to reclaiming its old championship perch.
More than anything, it was injuries that threatened to derail the Warriors’ march to the Larry. Sure, Klay Thompson was able to return after a two-plus year absence, but several of his teammates fell prey to bumps and bruises throughout the campaign.
Despite that fact, the Warrior that was arguably most affected by a physical ailment just dropped a scorching hot take on the movement to reduce the number of games on the Association’s regular-season schedule.
Iggy Goes Off on Truncated Schedule
During Friday’s episode of the Point Forward podcast, Iguodala gave a hearty endorsement of the 82-game schedule, which some believe should be shortened in an effort to reduce the wear and tear on players’ bodies.
As he sees it, the marathon nature of the NBA calendar is what distinguishes the best of the best in the roundball world from Joe Average.
“We gonna keep playing 82 games until 3005. We can’t change 82 games. 82 games … there’s a mental side of it,” Iguodala said. “That’s why we talk about the rookie wall. Records are made to be broken, and as we get better over time we’ll break more records. But I do think that there’s a foundation in all sports, you have to carry on that tradition… 82 games, I do think it separates the men from the boys.”
Iguodala went on to cite one of the league’s ultimate iron men as proof of the concept that players can and should be playing more games.
“We’re getting younger and younger, but we had grown-ass men playing in the league. I mean, John Stockton missed, what, 15 games over 20 years?”
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Iggy Probably Could Have Benefited From More Days Off
While some injuries are caused by overuse and others are freak occurrences, we would likely see less of them across the board with a reduced schedule/more time off between games. Fewer games would mean more time to rest and recuperate, as well as less opportunity to get bitten by the injury bug.
For his part, Iguodala himself may have had a larger hand in bringing another title to the Bay had his load been reduced.
Thanks to a nagging back injury, the veteran was limited to just 31 appearances during the regular season. And he spent a lot of the playoffs watching from the sidelines, too — much to the chagrin of head coach Steve Kerr.
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