NBA FINALS: LAKERS VS. HEAT

September 29, 2020

Andre Igoudala

Miami Heat

Practice Day

Q. Andre you've faced LeBron more than anybody else. What's one key you have to do defensively to have a good day against him and what's one thing you cannot let him get to if he's going to beat you?

ANDRE IGUODALA: It's a very complex question. I don't know if you really have one answer for it to be honest with you. I mean, the guy's versatile on so many different things. His greatest attribute isn’t scoring – he might go down with the most points in NBA history, that might give proper perspective on it. Just follow the game plan, takes five guys. You've got to be all on a string, and communicating that, mental aspect of the game is being ready every possession. You know, knowing that -- letting the other team know you're going to be there for the fight, as well, psychological game, too. So it's complex, but we've been through a very unique season, going past 365 days for one season with pauses in between. Accepting the challenge and getting ready to get after it.

Q. On that note when you reflect on those different matchups, facing LeBron, what are the moments that stick with you there and how those experiences shaped you overall?

ANDRE IGUODALA: I don't reflect too often. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing but I haven't had really a chance to reflect. Obviously playing against him so much, you know guys' tendencies and watching it you kind of predict what a guy is going to do before he does it – but when you’re in a game, it's different. You don't have the same predictability because it's kind of more of a feel and so many different factors going on and with you being on the court, so just trying to give feedback to the guys more than anything, just taking the challenge, embracing it and enjoying the moment and just trying to make the most of the opportunity.

Q. Not to compare these four players but how much easier does it make the game when you're going from quality of shooters like Hall of Famers, [Stephen] Curry and [Klay]Thompson as teammates to what Duncan [Robinson] and Tyler [Herro] can do at a young age and have they exceeded what your wildest expectations have been as young shooters since you arrived?

ANDRE IGUODALA: Yeah, I've been on a few different teams throughout my career, had really great shooters in Denver, as well. You know, learning, as you know -- you try not to compare them. You just have got great shooters across the league and shooting is getting better and better because there's more emphasis on the three so you see more guys in the game who are just high-clip three-point shooters. We have two young guys who have worked really hard to get to this level. Duncan come from D-3 and Tyler, more on the scene, but both those guys just having an edge and wanting to prove to people that they deserve to be on this level, and you combine that with Heat culture, that's a deadly formula.

So they are excited for the moment, and excited to see how they react to everything that's been going on and just embracing that and going out and playing and having good games.

Q. How important is this NBA Finals series for you, and what's the difference between playing this year and playing the last couple years?

ANDRE IGUODALA: We’re in the bubble now, so a little different type of environment. I think you have to be mentally tougher here now. It can be different not having road games, as well, but like I say, you've got to embrace this moment and try to take advantage of it, which I feel like we've had thus far. Both teams have taken advantage of it thus far and have been able to overcome mental challenges and continue to come together as a team throughout the entire bubble process and here we are. Just embracing it. Same mindset going into every game, attention to detail, making sure we get our scout reports down and trying to throw the first punch and accepting that any punch that comes from them, having our counters, and at the end of the day, enjoying it all.

Q. You guard LeBron a lot of times over the years, and what is the strategy to stop him?

ANDRE IGUODALA: You know, just defensive principles. You want to make guys -- put guys -- get them away from their strengths. You know, he has a lot of them so just being strategic, like I said, five guys on a string, takes five guys, being on one court defensively, communicating, understanding the scheme and try and do it and trusting everybody. That's a big part of it. Trust the four guys out there on the court with you.

Q. You referenced this in a previous question, but this is your sixth Finals appearance, if anybody knows what it's like to be in the Finals, it's you. Being in the bubble, does it pose more of a challenge going into a potential seven-game series in the NBA Finals than it would in a regular environment?

ANDRE IGUODALA: I think there are different types much challenges. The bubble, I think alleviates some issues you might have being outside in the regular world that you don't have to worry about, the social media become a beast and fully thrust itself in the game and ask can have its effects on the mind, that can directly affect the game at times and you have to react to it mentally. So you know, there's a gift and a curse to both sides. There's mental sides to being here, as well. Like I said before, I think both teams have been able to overcome that and get through it and take advantage of the situation and get to where we're at. So the good thing is that I think we'll get some good basketball. Only got two weeks left. Doesn't look so grim any more, two, three months out. Funny thing is we’ve always said, we got three months here, and you know, sounded cliché because everybody is supposed to say it, but I think we really thought we'd be here for the long haul and just try to take advantage of the last couple weeks.

Q. Specific last five years with the NBA Finals runs with the Warriors, what do you think you learned most with that group that you can impart to a bunch of guys with your new team who haven't been through the final experience before?

ANDRE IGUODALA: Learning how to answer questions with the most boring response, very, very key, and you and I have had a lot of conversations and I've actually had some great relationships or come to meet some cool people, whether I'm being crazy or being very boring. But no, all seriousness, understanding game-to-game how the narrative changes, and like I said before, media, social media, all those things have really thrown themselves into the game, and I think it can have an effect on the game whether positive but negative, as well, having the mental fortitude to clear that out and have a clear mind going into each individual game and taking it one day at a time with your adjustments and all those things.

Q. I know you're a thinker, curious what your answer will be. Given that part of the season you were away from the game for a little bit and now being on this stage, have you had a chance to think about that whole -- where you are and how you got to where you are right now?

ANDRE IGUODALA: Not really. Being about in my situation, I don't really have anything to lose. You know, very few times have I actually been like, I don't know how to put it, because I don't want to say selfish. I think that you have to be selfish sometimes. I told my son the other day, sometimes you have to start being selfish. The way my game is, pass first, always looking to deflect any attention. Trying to be humble, not saying I'm perfect at it. In that situation, I had to be selfish and I think I was in an opportunity that could have been, and selfish probably the wrong word, but being in an opportunity where I can dictate my future and trying to do it the best way possible and most professional way possible, and then everything, just having faith in what I believe in and things just really worked out.

So you've got to give a lot of credit to the beliefs that I have and standing on those beliefs and believing that there's a higher power.

Everything just kind of worked out. It's been interesting. The last couple weeks I've been thinking about that a lot, really been blessed with the events that have occurred in my life.

Q. You competed against Spoelstra's team a lot in your career and played for a short time with him, has it been what you expected? And from the outside, what's it like going up against a Spo coached team?

ANDRE IGUODALA: Early in my career, I talk about it with Spo sometimes, first year, my rookie year in the league, Jim O'Brien was the head coach and we had shoot-arounds and every day we got after it. So going up against -- so it was instilled in me early, this is how you work and you've got to work hard and earn minutes and everything that goes into that.

So it kind of set the table for me in terms of just how you prepare, this is how you train, this is how do you better, you go hard. So going up against a Heat team, it was a good grind. That's the type of basketball you wanted. I had to guard the best players every night, so going up against D-Wade all those years, I was just up for that challenge. It was a lot of fun.

As you get older, you start looking at organizations more so than just players, being with the union, you hear how this organization is run and how that's organization is run and you start hearing about the Heat culture and then I think it was good to actually experience it. I always talk about every young guy should experience what Heat culture is like because it sets them up for success for their entire career -- Spo was actually saying it, that every veteran should experience Heat culture, and it's about maximizing each and every player to complement the whole to have a complete team. It's been a good experience.