Andre Iguodala was the victim of one of the most memorable plays in NBA Finals history, and all he can really do is laugh about it.
Iguodala was on the wrong side of “The Block” made by LeBron James in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, and all he can do is hold his hands up and say it was a great play – but that James had some very important, little-credited help.
“If J.R. [Smith] is not there, I’m dunking it,” Iguodala told Chris Haynes of ESPN. “Well, I don’t know if I’m dunking, though, because I was about to die out there. But I give him all respect. When he blocked it, I thought somebody got shot. I laugh about it all the time. People try to joke on me. I still get mentions all day from fans always talking about the block.
“I’m like, ‘Man, that s— was so dope to me, too.’ I was a fan. That s— was amazing. When he blocked it, I was like, ‘Damn, somebody got shot.’ I thought it was funny. Somebody just made a good play. What you want me to do? If you enjoy the game of basketball, you should just be like, ‘Dude made a great play. F— it.'”
Iguodala is fairly relaxed about his role in history, saying that James simply made a great play and there’s nothing he can do about it now. He has, however, reassessed it since it happened.
“I looked back at it too, and had I came in from a different angle, I could have [dunked it],” Iguodala said. “But you know who made the play? J.R. made the play. Because I came in thinking dunk and then I took off and he swiped [at the ball] and I had to move the ball. If you look, I moved the ball [to my right]. I just tried to finish the play.”
The block was one of the key plays that swung Game 7 of the Finals and has already gone down in NBA lore. Iguodala has had a long, successful career and will be remembered for more than this, but he’ll definitely be remembered for this play, too.
