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GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 22, 2017

Andre Iguodala

Oakland, California

Q. I'm curious as to your thoughts on how this team has evolved emotionally in handling going from kind of a plucky upstart to now the team that not only has a target on their back this year, but it's been a couple of years with that? And how you guys have responded to that emotionally?
ANDRE IGUODALA: I think Steve Kerr says it best: He said he's never worried about us when we're threatened. He said we always respond well when we're threatened and in a vulnerable position. But it's those times of success where we can kind of take a back seat and start to relax and kind of put it in cruise control too early.

So mentally we still have some room to grow, which I think is positive. And this would be an important year for, I think, a couple of guys, how they mentally continue to grow and be mentally stronger.

Q. Can you take us back to July 1st when you had that whirlwind of visits with different clubs during free agency? Did that day unfold sort of the way you expected it to. Did you have a plan for how it would go? And how gratified were you that the Warriors, when push came to shove, came back to you with the offer you wanted?
ANDRE IGUODALA: Somebody just wrote an article about it. I heard it was pretty good. They had a lot of details, did their homework, I see.

It was interesting. I think I've been through it a few times. So I was more prepared. I think free agency can be emotional. It can be draining if you haven't gone through it.

I think I've learned from the past two times that I've gone through it and kind of used those experiences maybe to my advantage. I don't know if it was good or bad. It was fine. Everything worked out well. Had a good meeting with Steve and Bob at the end of the day and that was a lot of fun. I don't know, we didn't disagree on anything. But we had a good conversation.

Q. I know you don't talk about the big picture a lot, but at this point are you thinking about things like the Hall of Fame, about your jersey getting up in the rafters? Are those things that start to stick in your mind, you win championships, you get Finals MVP. Do these things start to get in your head?
ANDRE IGUODALA: No, I don't think I'm that good. My son thinks I'm that good.

Q. Finals MVP, two championships, Olympian, there's some things you can put on your wall?
ANDRE IGUODALA: Yeah, you get a lot of things about just acting like you got some sense.

Q. It's just been about that?
ANDRE IGUODALA: Like some guys are so good that they've gotta be there, and then you fill out the rest of the roster with guys that won't cause any distractions. So I think my mom deserves a lot of credit raising me right.

I don't know. I guess I don't have an appreciation for it yet because I'm still playing. So maybe I will when I get a little older. But I don't know, we've had a lot of success. So certain things I can't enjoy like I want to because of the success.

And I don't know, I don't really think about it. I guess I think about golf a lot. So that's what I'm thinking about when I leave the court.

Q. What was your reaction when you heard what Kevin Durant was going to decide as far as making that financial sacrifice that the Warriors could make, the kind of moves they did, including keeping you?
ANDRE IGUODALA: I saw the Forbes report. The Forbes report of the top paid basketball players, I think he was number two. So I don't think it was that much of a sacrifice. I'm joking. Don't write that as a bad thing. I'm joking.

69, was that right? 69, 68 was the number? So I don't know, I would have took everything. But he'll get everything next year or the year after that. We'll work it out. We've got the patches now, the badges now, the badges, and when is the TV deal up?

Q. Few more years.
ANDRE IGUODALA: Few more years. But, yeah, the TV deal is going to be huge, right? That's going to be a big market for us. Y'all be hiding a lot of money. They hiding a lot of money.

Q. As you look forward to your career after basketball, what is your process? I know over the summer you've been talking to tech firms and even over the last few years. What is your process in looking at career after basketball?
ANDRE IGUODALA: Owning everything. That's the key. I had a really good -- I was at a good conference last week -- I don't know if I could say I was there, but I spoke to some brilliant minds and talked to some good people.

So I think for me, it's just learning, learning as much as possible before the game's over and meeting as many good people as possible before I'm done playing. They say that's always key. And got a few things off the ground now that I can easily transition into.

And it's different sectors. So just gotta figure out which one. I don't know, I guess I can do all of them. Similar to my game -- multifaceted, different areas, play different parts of the game. So hopefully try to have the same success.

Q. Andre, you made your feelings clear late last year about the White House, and the team is going to vote on that. Have your feelings changed since then? And how do you expect the votes ultimately to turn out?
ANDRE IGUODALA: They said Steve and Bob said we're going to talk about it as a group. So I was properly prepared for that question. Our PR team is amazing for having us prepared.

No, I think my feelings have changed as far as Washington D.C., and that's going to be an important game for us. They're a very good team, on the up and up. I think with our success, things like that can distract us from the actual game.

And that's something I think we're talking about, being mentally prepared when we're going to places, playing games in parts of the season. So, we can't let that be something to distract us.

North Korea is on our ass, I heard, so we've got bigger problems than the guys shooting the ball in the hoop going to the White House.

Q. Andre, last year you were in a contract year. It came through for you. But you were the same person. I'm wondering now, because you're a guy who will kind of point out the things you need to be aware of, be cautious about, what are the things that maybe concern you going into this year with this team?
ANDRE IGUODALA: I think mentally it's really going to test us: How do we respond to, I wouldn't say adversity, but just defending the championship again. There's always a lot of noise surrounding us, and we have to continue to be resilient through the noise, because it can weigh on us sometimes.

And at the end of the day we get there, but I think we should get there sooner this year being more acquainted with one another is doing a good job of leaning on each other.

I think Steve will do a good job with that, especially early in training camp. It's just us, we always say that. And this summer everyone kind of goes their separate ways. We still keep in touch, but you come back together, it happened so fast you don't mentally want to be still in the summer. You've got to lock back in, season is a week and a half earlier.

Charles Barkley said that's soft. I might agree, because I enjoy my summers. We're here a little early. But we'll be back in the grind, and most of the guys are in the gym. Klay's lost a lot of weight. He's looking good. Steph's always ready. KD really likes basketball so he's always ready. I know Draymond's always ready.

Draymond's a top 10 player in the league. It was a big vote on that. So you know how he is, he's going to prove it, which he is. So he's going to prove that as well. They're going to be gunning for him. I think that motivates him. I like that ranking for that reason.

And then we've got some new guys that are going to help us. So we still have motivations, I think that's key. It's hard to continue to be motivated, but for us there's something always to shoot for.

Q. In your experience, Bob Myers and particularly this offseason, do you notice the fact that he is like a former agent? Like do you feel like he comes at it with a perspective that maybe came from being on that side of things?
ANDRE IGUODALA: I think so. He uses it to his advantage, especially in negotiations, the way he words things. Bob plays chess. So he's really good at that. I'm trying to play chess with him as well. That was a lot of fun. Learned a lot from him.

But his relationships with players are just natural, which is a lot different from other GMs. They don't have that natural ability to connect with players and understand the different things that may be going on surrounding them.

And he's used that to help him be able to speak to players, overcome any issues that he may see coming up, catching things before they come to a head. So he's done an excellent job. When is his deal up?

THE MODERATOR: Few years left.

ANDRE IGUODALA: Got a few years. Okay. He'll be fine. He's got a couple of championships under his belt. Bob's done a great job. I consider Bob a real friend. That's my guy.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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