Andre Iguodala about to show the world hes on Scottie Pippens level

Miracles Boys33 · Dec 11, 2013

When he was a teenager, Andre Iguodala loved the Fab Five so much that he wore the same tattered Jalen Rose Michigan jersey for years. On the court, he mimicked another long and versatile guard, Penny Hardaway. And, like every basketball-dribbling Illinois kid growing up in the 1990s, he practiced his fadeaway like MJ. But Iguodala really wanted to be like Scottie. And the more he watched, the more he realized that Jordan's teammate Scottie Pippen influenced the game in profound ways, often without scoring.

Pippen had been a 6-foot point guard in high school who slipped under nearly every college's radar. He grew to a rangy 6-foot-8 at the University of Central Arkansas, maintaining his ballhandling skills and agility as he sprouted. "I'm convinced that Pippen could've been world-class in track (400 meters? long jump?) had he directed himself to that," Jack McCallum wrote in Dream Team, which chronicled the 1992 Olympic basketball super team. Iguodala studied how Pippen defended Indiana's point guard, Mark Jackson, in the 1998 conference finals. Guarding the shorter Jackson, Pippen almost single-handedly denied ball movement on his side of the court. Jordan and Pippen went on to capture their sixth championship together, defeating the Utah Jazz.

At the same time, Iguodala was a point guard for Springfield's Lanphier High School. He, too, was about 6 feet and growing, and was known more for his track-and-field exploits in the high jump than his basketball skills. "He's always been able to handle the ball," said Lawrence Thomas, the school's freshman coach. "He played point guard for me as a freshman even though he was the tallest kid on the team. No way was I going to … just tell him [to go under the basket] because he's the tallest kid."

Iguodala played point for another reason: Richard "Cadillac" McBride was at Lanphier. McBride leapfrogged Iguodala and everyone else, starting on the team's varsity squad from the moment he arrived on campus. "We've had a lot of great players, but Rich McBride coming out his eighth-grade year was the best player I've ever seen in Springfield, by far," said Pat McGuire, a former Lanphier assistant. "Talentwise, he was ahead of the game. Andre was in his shadow."

McBride introduced Iguodala to the AAU scene, where his game soon blossomed. "I saw him progress from his freshman year on through, and every year it was a big jump," said McBride, who went on to play at Illinois. "From junior year to senior year, he probably had the best progression of any player that I've ever seen play in my life."

McBride got all the attention from colleges, but he struggled with the stress of being the featured player.

"Rich McBride, he catches a lot of flak, especially being from Springfield," Iguodala said. "He was supposed to be the guy to make it, but he had some tough times, some things that burnt him out of the game of basketball. There was a lot of pressure on him at a young age that shouldn't have been on him. But he was one of the people that helped me get out."
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http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/10041396/how-andre-iguodala-scottie-pippen

Article is long so i just put the first paragraph

kuku · Dec 11, 2013

Igoudala is about to show the world he is on James Bond level.

- George Karl

Carl Herrera · Dec 11, 2013

So... Iggy is about to quit on the Rockets, too?

Easy · Dec 11, 2013

One of them is not like the others:

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Andre Iguodala about to show the world hes on Scottie Pippens level

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