The Golden State Warriors received a bit of semi-unexpected good news today, as Andre Iguodala made his first ever NBA All-Defensive First Team. Iguodala’s reaction:
Oh so now you see…
— Andre Iguodala (@andre) June 2, 2014
Iguodala finished fifth overall in the voting. He received 57 first place votes, tying him for fourth with LeBron James. However, Iguodala received 34 Second Team votes to James’ 20.
Here’s how the voting looked (First Team votes — which equal three points — in parentheses).
First Team
Joakim Noah: 223 (105)
Paul George: 161 (65)
Chris Paul: 156 (64)
Serge Ibaka: 152 (54)
Andre Iguodala: 148 (57)
Second Team
LeBron James: 134 (57)
Patrick Beverly: 112 (44)
Jimmy Butler: 103 (29)
Kawhi Leonard: 89 (16)
Roy Hibbert: 76 (15)
Others receiving votes:
DeAndre Jordan, L.A. Clippers 63 (14); Anthony Davis, New Orleans, 62 (18); Tony Allen, Memphis, 60 (17); Tim Duncan, San Antonio, 45 (12); Dwight Howard, Houston, 26 (6); Taj Gibson, Chicago, 21 (2); Mike Conley, Memphis, 21 (5); Ricky Rubio, Minnesota, 19 (5); Lance Stephenson, Indiana, 14 (3); P.J. Tucker, Phoenix, 13 (2); Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City, 10 (2); Kyle Lowry, Toronto, 10 (3); Eric Bledsoe, Phoenix, 9 (1); Marc Gasol, Memphis, 8; John Wall, Washington, 8 (1); Thabo Sefolosha, Oklahoma City, 8 (1); Kirk Hinrich, Chicago, 7 (2); Trevor Ariza, Washington, 5 (2); Avery Bradley, Boston, 5 (1); Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City, 5 (1); Klay Thompson, Golden State, 5; Andrew Bogut, Golden State, 4; Chris Bosh, Miami, 4 (1); Luol Deng, Cleveland, 4 (1); Wesley Matthews, Portland, 4 (1); Tony Parker, San Antonio, 4 (1); Nicolas Batum, Portland, 3 (1); Stephen Curry, Golden State, 3 (1); Danny Green, San Antonio, 3 (1); Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Charlotte, 3; Shaun Livingston, Brooklyn, 3 (1); Victor Oladipo, Orlando, 3 (1); DeMarre Carroll, Atlanta, 2; Matt Barnes, L.A. Clippers, 2 (1); James Harden, Houston, 2; George Hill, Indiana, 2; Jeff Teague, Atlanta, 2; Dwyane Wade, Miami, 2 (1); Kemba Walker, Charlotte, 2; David West, Indiana, 2; Arron Afflalo, Orlando, 1; Corey Brewer, Minnesota, 1; Michael Carter-Williams, Philadelphia,1; Darren Collison, L.A. Clippers, 1; DeMar DeRozan, Toronto, 1; Andre Drummond, Detroit, 1; Monta Ellis, Dallas, 1; Danny Granger, L.A. Clippers, 1; Draymond Green, Golden State, 1; Reggie Jackson, Oklahoma City, 1; David Lee, Golden State, 1; Paul Millsap, Atlanta, 1; Rajon Rondo, Boston, 1.
***
Iguodala is the first Warrior to make the All-Defensive First Team since Nate Thurmond in 1970-71. He made the All-Defensive Second Team in 2010-11 as a member of the 76ers, and was the first man left off the Second Team last year.
While one could dwell on some of the silly vote totals here, such as David Lee and Monta Ellis getting one Second Team vote each, James Harden getting two (check out this GIF from @liesandperfidy to see just how ridiculous that is) and Stephen Curry getting a First Team nod (maybe Mark Jackson was on to something when he called Curry “an elite defender” at the beginning of the 2012-13 season), it’s time to set a few things straight about the addition of Iguodala.
First, he absolutely deserves this honor. And he’s right — he should’ve been named First Team before, probably multiple times. (He actually complained to me about this at an NBA 2K9 party in New York over five years ago.) And those who think the signing was a dud because he averaged below 10 points per game shouldn’t blame Iguodala or Bob Myers for making the deal. They should blame Mark Jackson.
Iguodala can run an offense, but he’s at his best in the open court. Adding Iguodala and forcing him to play in a halfcourt-centric, iso-ball offense is like buying a racehorse to pull tourists around in a carriage. If Steve Kerr makes good on his promise to get this team running more, Iguodala won’t be seen as a player who only impacts games defensively.
