Andre Iguodala announces his season debut

Andre Iguodala is a four-time NBA champion, a Finals MVP, a best-selling author, a philanthropist, a venture capitalist, and a podcaster. Now he can add “newsbreaker’ to his resume.

Iguodala announced he’ll be making his 2022-23 Golden State Warriors debut on Saturday night, when the Warriors host the Orlando Magic. And he did it on his podcast, Point Forward, which he hosts with Evan Turner.

“Got some big news, fam,” Iguodala told Turner at the top of this week’s episode, which features a conversation with Warriors guard Ty Jerome. “We got 24 hours until I step on the court. It’s a go. I’m officially announcing it on the Point Forward podcast.”

Iguodala kicked off Season Two of the podcast by announcing his return for a final season with the Warriors. Why let one of the NBA insiders get the clicks and views from breaking that story, when Iguodala and Turner can leverage it for downloads and podcast subscriptions? Even when they’re podcasting, the Warriors are light years ahead.

“I hope the fanbase is excited,” Iguodala continued. “I’m a little nervous, but I’m also excited. I try to play it cool, calm, and collected all the time, but I’m excited to get there on the court. It’s finally happening...Patience is a virtue and now we’re here.”

Saturday will mark the official start of Iguodala’s eighth season with the Warriors, four of which have ended with championships and two of which featured trips to the NBA Finals. Last year, the Dubs enjoyed his presence for just 31 regular season games and seven playoff games, but his presence as a leader and a mentor for the Warriors many young players has been invaluable.

Iguodala is the NBA’s second-oldest player, approaching his 39th birthday at the end of this month. But unlike the oldest player, Miami’s Udonis Haslem, Iguodala’s team actually needs him on the court right now. With Steph Curry out and three front court players out with injury, there’s actual minutes for Andre - especially with Anthony Lamb having played 31 of his 50 eligible games already.

He’ll have some company in coming back, too.

Wiggins doesn’t have a podcast (yet!) so the news of his extremely-probable return from injury and illness was leaked to a regular reporter. He’s still got a lot to learn from his veterans.

In addition to his return, Iguodala and Turner also discussed the incredible financial impact of Steph Curry, Steve Nash’s bad defense leading to his being overrated, and congratulated the Warriors’ award-winning sales and marketing team, though Iguodala commented, “It ain’t hard to sell them tickets with Steph Curry on the team.”

Iguodala now has an outside chance of logging more games than podcasts for the 2022-23 season. It will be nice to see Iguodala back on the court, and the only downside is that my mom is going to start texting me again about how attractive Andre’s shoulders are.