Getty Andre Iguodala speaks to a referee during a game against the Phoenix Suns.
Andre Iguodala’s outburst late in the Golden State Warriors‘ loss to the Phoenix Suns ended up being a very costly one.
With less than five minutes remaining in the January 10 game, Iguodala was ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct. As Angelina Martin of NBC Sports Bay Area noted, Iguodala grew angry at the call and was seen tossing the basketball into the crowd before leaving the floor.
On January 12, the league handed down punishment to the Warriors veteran.
NBA Issues Fine to Andre Iguodala
In a statement issued on Thursday evening, the league said that Iguodala was fined for the outburst. The league noted that in addition to his ball toss, Iguodala also directed “inappropriate language” toward game officials.
“Iguodala made the comments following his having been assessed a technical foul and ejected for the unsportsmanlike act with 4:30 remaining in the fourth quarter of Golden State’s 125-113 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Jan. 10 at Chase Center,” the statement read.
Andre ejected from the game 😬
As Martin noted, Iguodala was ejected for a similar incident nearly five years ago. In a 2018 game against the Portland Trail Blazers, Iguodala was tossed after he heaved the ball into the stands following a failed attempt to take a half-court shot as the first half expired.
At the time, head coach Steve Kerr questioned whether it was an intentional act from Iguodala.
“If you throw something into the stands — a mouthpiece, a ball or whatever — you get ejected,” Kerr said, via ESPN. “I guess the distinction the officials had to make was, was that a shot? Was he just throwing the ball toward the hoop at the end of the half? Was it out of frustration? And they deemed it was out of frustration.”
Rough Return for Iguodala
This week’s ejection came in Iguodala’s second appearance this season after having missed the first 39 games of the season with a nagging hip injury. Iguodala had been contemplating retirement after winning his fourth title with the Warriors last season, but decided just before the start of training camp to return for his 19th NBA season. He was held out of the first three months, however.
Iguodala played an important role last season as a mentor to the team’s younger players, and Kerr praised him this week for his ability to facilitate the offense.
“He’s got a lot of strengths but one of them is his ability to make the game easier for everybody else,” Kerr said, via Madeline Kenney of the Bay Area News Group. “He’s always done that for Steph [Curry] and Klay [Thompson], just not only with his ball handling and passing but even his screening, slipping out of screens, his awareness of what’s happening, he’s just always smoothed the game out for us and there’s no doubt he can help Jordan, too.”
Tuesday’s loss to the Suns also marked the return of Curry, who had been out since December 14 after suffering a shoulder injury against the Indiana Pacers. The Warriors went 6-5 in the month that he was out, staying in playoff contention in a tightly packed Western Conference.