Philadelphia 76ers: How Andre Iguodala Spent His Summer Vacation
With his tenacious defense and exceptional play-making ability, Philadelphia 76ers' swingman Andre Iguodala has a well-deserved reputation for being a veritable jack-of-all-trades.
This summer, he's been just as busy away from the basketball court as he typically is while on it.
As usual, his offseason began with the usual chorus of 76ers fans clamoring for his departure. The choir was a bit more vocal this year following Iguodala's disappointing performance during Philadelphia's first-round playoff series against the Miami Heat.
The playoffs weren't an outlier, necessarily. The entire 2010-11 campaign was a strange one for the 76ers' 27-year-old forward. Last season, Iguodala averaged 14.1 points, 6.3 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game—modest numbers given his skill set, but decent considering the fact that he was plagued by injuries all year.
A nagging right Achilles' coupled with a balky right knee led to him missing more games last year (15) than he had in his first six NBA seasons combined (six). Iguodala is never one to use injuries as an excuse, but his lack of explosiveness undoubtedly played a role in his lackluster postseason performance.
Iguodala added fuel to the fire by not exactly endearing himself to 76ers' fans following the final game of the Miami series. When asked if he expected to be a part of the team the following season, he simply replied: "I expect to be in the NBA."
The proverbial cherry on top of the "trade Iguodala" sundae came one day later when Iguodala missed his year-end exit interview with 76ers head coach Doug Collins, team president Rod Thorn and general manager Ed Stefanski. Both sides chalked it up to a miscommunication, but it was clear that the seven-year veteran was in the wrong.
In the weeks leading up to June's NBA draft, a trade seemed inevitable. At various times, the Warriors' Monta Ellis, the Clippers' Chris Kaman and Lakers forward Lamar Odom were all rumored to be heading to Philadelphia in exchange for the Sixers' mercurial star.
By the time the NBA lockout became a reality on July 1, none of those deals came to fruition. The failure of the 76ers to make a move was probably best for all parties involved: Iguodala has recently expressed his desire to remain in Philadelphia, and none of the players whose names were floated in trade rumors would have made the team noticeably better.
With his place on the 76ers secure, Iguodala rededicated himself to his role as team captain by organizing a group workout in Los Angeles in late August. In all, eight 76ers spent a week on the campus of UCLA working on their craft as a unit. Since players are barred from NBA facilities, the time spent together was invaluable, especially considering the tenuous state of the league's current labor negotiations.
Playing pickup games with teammates was a marked change from last summer when Iguodala started alongside Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose for Team USA in the 2010 FIBA World Championship. The 6'6" swingman did a little bit of everything for the U.S. team (5.7 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.8 SPG), which captured gold in the FIBA tournament for the first time since 1994.
Basketball hasn't been Iguodala's sole focus this offseason, however. Last week, he took part in a week-long internship with Bank of America Merrill Lynch. As part of his duties, he shadowed a venture capitalist for a day, met the founders of Kik Messenger and RecycleBank and visited the New York Stock Exchange.
"I always had an interest in what was going on in the market," said Iguodala. "I understand that this basketball thing is a small window. The things that I'm getting from basketball...I want to stretch it out my whole life."
His hectic week concluded Friday as he and 20 other NBA players met with league owners in an attempt to hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement.
"We just want something that is fair," said Iguodala, following the meeting. "Our main thing is to get back out there on the court, but at the same time it has to be fair."
It's only fair that, once a new CBA is reached, the next phase in his life will likely begin just as it has for the past seven seasons: as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers. And if next season is anything like these past four months have been for Iguodala, he'll be pretty busy.
