Andre Iguodala staying in the now in second go-around with Warriors

But treating regular-season games as optional in order to have Iguodala optimal come playoff time was standard operating procedure during all the Warriors’ trips to the Finals."The difference is, as you get older, sometimes your body may not respond the way it normally has," he said.The way the season started, it was easy to forget that Iguodala spent two seasons with the Miami Heat, including a run to the Finals in the COVID-induced Bubble in Orlando, Florida."When he came back here," forward Draymond Green said, "you weren’t looking at it like, ‘Oh, Andre is going to play a bunch of regular-season games and a bunch of regular-season minutes.’ You’re looking at it like, ‘Great, we’re bringing Andre back. Asked what the Warriors miss without Iguodala, Curry said, "His composure, his IQ, the plays that everybody in this room knows that he makes … He’s always in the right place at the right time, makes the right pass. You just don’t know."Iguodala has found solace in sharing the fruits of those 17 years with the players — combo guard Jordan Poole, small forward Andrew Wiggins, rookie power forward Jonathan Kuminga and Otto Porter, a vet forward but first-year Warrior — charged with making up for his absence. He’s got to make it hard on him to get him ready for the game," Iguodala said. That first championship was probably the first time I was able to soak it all in, but I didn’t enjoy the second one or the third one because it was like, ‘We have to do it again and again.’"In a sense, Iguodala never completely detached from the Warriors, not even after he was traded to the Grizzlies in a move forced by salary-cap restrictions to make room for the acquisition of Wiggins. He remained close and in contact with the other three members of his team-centric golf foursome — Steph, personnel director Jonnie West and player development coach Jacob Rubin — but never imagined sharing anything other than a tee time with them again."Jacob and I share a big-brother feeling for Steph in terms of protecting him," Iguodala said. It’s more like, 'Oh, I’ve got to get off this shot because I’ll have 20, and 20 looks better than 17.’ "We also have an appreciation for life outside of basketball."After the NBA Bubble, Iguodala was back in the Bay playing a round of golf with Kerr the day the Warriors signed Kent Bazemore and Brad Wanamaker. It wasn’t about me or me coming back at all."When the possibility arose, though, Iguodala couldn’t resist the chance to watch Steph up close again."When I was playing with him, I was never able to appreciate him," he said.