Golden State Warriors: Andre Iguodala should be Sixth Man of the Year
The Golden State Warriors’ Andre Iguodala is a champion once again, but he should also have been named the Sixth Man of the Year.
The Golden State Warriors have the most talented starting lineup in the NBA. They start four All-Stars and two MVPs. They’re so good that it almost doesn’t matter who the fifth player in their starting lineup is because they can make anyone seem effective.
However, the Warriors are at their best when they go small. The reason why that starting center is mostly unimportant is because Golden State’s strongest lineup features Draymond Green at the five and Kevin Durant at the four. At the small forward position is Andre Iguodala.
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Iguodala is a super-sub like few have been in the NBA. Even at 33 years old, he is still better than a good amount of starting small forwards. The choice to go the bench wasn’t because he needed to at that point in his career–it was for the benefit of the team.
Iguodala returned to the starting lineup for the last three games of the 2015 NBA Finals and ended up winning Finals MVP. Still, he went to the bench. And, once again, he proved how valuable he is after Durant went down with injury in February as he turned it up a few notches from that point until Game 5 of the 2017 Finals.
He won his second title this season while coming off the bench. He was a key figure for, quite arguably, the greatest team of all-time. Despite that, his individual efforts weren’t rewarded.
Eric Gordon was named this year’s Sixth Man of the Year. Iguodala finished second in voting. This is the second year in a row that he finished as the runner-up for the award.
Iguodala played 76 games, coming off the bench in every single one. Gordon played 75, but he started 15 of them. Gordon played about five more minutes per game than Iguodala did. Those numbers aren’t where the award was won or lost.
Iguodala averaged more rebounds, assists, and steals while shooting the ball at a significantly more efficient clip. Gordon’s most glaring advantage was in points per game. He scored 16 points every contest while Iguodala scored just slightly over 7 points per contest.
The advanced metrics significantly favor Iguodala. Though he scored less points, his offensive rating was much better. It was 129 compared to Gordon’s 109.
So why did Gordon win the award over Iguodala? Because the voters have been voted incorrectly for that award for years. They don’t care who the best bench player actually was.
The award goes to whichever bench player scores the most. It’s why Jamal Crawford won it last year when he, by all measures, had a bad year compared to Iguodala. When considering which candidate is most worthy, voters stop at the points per game column.
Iguodala should have been the Sixth Man of the Year this year. He also should have won the award last year. He probably could have won the award two years ago.
He’s been the best bench player in the league for a few years now. Unfortunately for Iguodala, where he excels is on the wrong side of the basketball court. Voters don’t care about defense, even if it is elite.
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The voting system for NBA awards is flawed. Even with all of the games and data at their disposal, it seems like voters choose to ignore it instead. Sometimes, it seems like they don’t even watch the game.s
Iguodala should be the Sixth Man of the Year, but I think the second ring will be able to comfort him.