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NBA FINALS: CLEVELAND VS GOLDEN STATE

June 12, 2017

Andre Iguodala

Oakland, California: Postgame

Warriors - 129, Cavaliers - 120

Q. How does it feel to win on your home court? Is this a sweet revenge?
ANDRE IGUODALA: I wouldn't call it revenge, it's just making the most of the opportunity that was in front of us. We feel like we were right there last year, and you learn through your down times or disappointing times. I feel like that's a part of the growth. I feel like we have grown from that.

As can you see, the way we took care of the ball in the fourth quarter and we didn't panic when they made their runs, I think that was growth. Steph only threw one left-hand pass tonight. That was growth. I told him that he's amazing.

This is history. We're going down as one of the best teams ever, and that's a special thing you cannot take away from us.

Q. I don't know if I would have picked you as being the guy who is going to jump up on the scorer's table and scream at the crowd. What got into you? What were you saying? What was that about?
ANDRE IGUODALA: I've been so stressed the last like three, four weeks, and I told my wife right after the game, like, I'm so sorry, like it's just been so stressful. Steve Kerr, he said it a few times during the game. He's like, How does it feel to be the only adult on the court? And it's stressful because it's a hard job that goes unnoticed. You have to embrace it. It's really just sacrificing to make sure everybody else is eating.

But then you want to look for yourself sometimes. Like you want to show people what you can do. And it just so happens that it's always been perfect timing. I think that's more of a blessing than anything else, is like when it's time for me to be a little bit more selfless and show what I can do, like nights like this or the whole Finals in 2015, it just shows that there's something powerful up there that I believe in that's working through me.

Q. Seemed like that dunk that you had in the second quarter just loosened everybody in the entire building. What did you see there? What were you looking to do in that second quarter and --
ANDRE IGUODALA: Well, I've been seeing that the whole series, like, okay, it's there. Okay. I see it. It's there. Deron Williams is pressuring me, sending me left, okay, the drive is there, the drive is there. But I just haven't taken it. And they have been playing me for the pass, but I'm like we're up 3-0, don't try to force it. Just be patient, be patient. When it's the time to do it, you'll know.

And you've seen through the first couple games, when K.D.'s out on the break and he's right down the middle, you saw a lot in Game 1, and we had two shooters in the wing, it's kind of like pick your poison. And they're playing me to pass, and it was like exploit them tonight.

Steve and I had an interesting conversation this morning in shootaround, and he said, How many minutes you got? I said, Whatever you need. I'll be ready. And I kind of just had a good feeling, that inkling like tonight's the night to attack and get it over with.

Q. You've been through this before, you've been here before a couple years ago, but for the guys who haven't, the guys like David and Zaza and JaVale, what was it like seeing them enjoy this moment?
ANDRE IGUODALA: Yeah, that's a lot of fun. That's actually funny because you know the feeling, but they have no clue. And they asked about it. It's like, man, I don't know, I can't describe it. And they're like, what do you mean? And it's like, well, you'll see. Just focus in, and you'll figure it out.

And then once it's like it hits zero and you see that excitement in their faces, it's almost like in a lost world because you have no idea what to do, like how do -- like this is really happening. And you can't describe it.

But really happy for those guys, especially for David West because this guy's so locked in, he's so locked in and he wants it so bad, and he does everything he needs to do to be mentally focused and to have his body right.

And that's when you see how precious these moments are, because you got guys, you got a lot of guys like that, that never even get to the Finals. Never even get to the Conference Finals. You're always happy for the guys that sacrifice everything around their life just so they can put everything into this game.

Q. David also talked about how much work went into this, and he said an example being this morning when you guys had an early morning shoot, and he said it was optional, but guys showed up. What does that tell you, and is that typical?
ANDRE IGUODALA: Well, it's typical with our team. I think we have done -- Bob Myers, I can't believe I'm giving him a compliment considering we're about to go heads up in negotiating, but he's done an awesome job of finding the right personalities to fit the culture and balancing it out. We have a lot of competitors, and when you bring a new guy in, he's just going to -- he's just going to fit right in. It's like, if it's optional, that means we got practice. Optional just means just get there when you get there. And we don't even have to speak about it, it's just -- you just know it. And that's the culture that we built, and it's an amazing thing to see.

Q. Can you put into words what specifically a coach like Steve Kerr brings to this? You have so much talent. But what does he bring? And also a second part of that is what did Mike Brown bring in his absence?
ANDRE IGUODALA: Well, Steve is just, he's got a great brain. It's always working. He's trying to figure everything out like, okay, I know what I got, I know how to get the best out of each one of these guys. But we're going to take it to the next level. He's always trying to take it to the next layer, the next layer. It's like an onion, keep peeling it back. It's so intricate. He has his blade-open knife that's just so fine when he cuts it, and it's just like we're going to keep peeling it. And he's trying to -- sometimes he's so into it I think he forgets that it's like you went too far with certain guys.

But he does a great job of knowing how to communicate with the each individual, which is key. Because everybody's different. And he does such a good job communicating with them for the whole. He does a good job of tricking some guys, too, as far as their focus of what he wants to -- he's really good at trying to figure out what to say to them to get them to do what we need them to do on the court.

Mike Brown, Mike Brown did a key thing. He changed himself for our culture. And it's hard to change what you've known. He's came from a certain system or culture, and it's a little bit more loose here, and it kind of drove him crazy sometimes. And it's like this is crazy.

But he figured that out. He says, I'm going to embrace it. And I feel like Draymond Green and myself were like, we're going to show you -- we're going to help you along the way, but whatever you need us to do, we got you.

And he did a hell of a job. He did a hell of a job, and that's hard to do when, you know, he's been to the Finals, doing it his way. So he knows how to have some success. But he embraced our culture, and so happy for him.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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