Andre Iguodala Alludes to “External Factors” Influencing 2016 Finals
We hear the same narrative every year: The 2016 Finals is the single greatest comeback in NBA history. Without fail, we see yearly posts about LeBron James’ impressive chase down block on Andre Iguodala. Fans of the game – and more importantly, haters of the Golden State Warriors – pin that as the defining moment of the series, the completion of a comeback that was, in all respects, insane. No team had ever, and likely will not again for a while, come back from a 3-1 deficit on basketball’s biggest stage.
Many others will point out Kyrie Irving’s stepback dagger (Kyrie, by the way, does not get nearly enough credit for his performance in the Finals according to Andre Iguodala) over Steph Curry, or Kevin Love “locking up” the MVP as he overdribbled to try and get open around the arc to get another shot in.
However, ask almost anyone who isn’t on the LeBron bandwagon and they’ll give you the same answer after you think about it: The defining moment of the series was Game four, when Draymond Green was thrown out and inevitably suspended for Game 5 at Oracle Arena, effectively robbing the Warriors of their homecourt advantage for the series. It’s undeniable the effect that this had on the series: The momentum shifted entirely because of a questionable suspension by the NBA in a pivotal moment. The Warriors were about to complete the dream season at home, and make the 2016 Cavaliers look like frauds for running through a weak Eastern Conference, and suddenly the reigning Defensive Player of the Year is dropped for pretty suspect reasons.
Now you could point to a lot of things that turned the tides of the 2016 Finals: Andrew Bogut’s injury which killed any inside presence the Warriors had, Steph Curry recovering from an MCL sprain he suffered against the Rockets earlier in the playoffs, the Cavs getting to the line at a higher rate, you name it. But nothing changed the game quite like the Draymond suspension. Iguodala, earlier this week, went on the infamous Breakfast Club podcast, and cited what he believed to be “external factors” in the Warriors’ 2016 loss, naming Game 5 in particular.
Iguodala of course went on to do the gracious thing, suggesting that the series was not in fact rigged and the Cavaliers were the better team in their matchups in terms of how they played, which is a valid sentiment: The Warriors made a lot of mistakes which ultimately killed their hope of going back-to-back in the end. For a team that had their best player hobbled, their inside anchor injured for multiple games and clearly not 100% for the others, and their defensive lynchpin missing for a full game, it’s hard to find success even after they had the blueprint to break the NBA record for most wins in a season. Regardless, Iguodala’s questioning about that suspension isn’t the first time we’ve heard the 2016 championship title thrown into question, and won’t be the last.
So was the 2016 Finals actually rigged? The answer, as a fan of the game, is no. As much as I want to say that it was as a Warriors home-teamer, and as much of an effect on the series as the suspension had, the Finals wasn’t rigged. It doesn’t excuse that it was BS, or that the 2016 title is significantly diminished in its value, however. If that were any other player not named LeBron James on the winning team, the trophy would be on the highest echelon of illegitimacy in the eyes of NBA fans and analysts alike. But the intention of Draymond Green’s suspension was not, in fact, to set the Cavs up to win: It was just a really stupid and unnecessary punitive action that changed the narrative and momentum of the NBA Finals entirely. Unfortunately, injuries and refs overpunishing players with questionable rationale is a part of the game today, and always will be. You just have to make the best of it.