Andre Iguodala congratulates James Jones on blocking his shot
Golden State Warriors wing Andre Iguodala has been in the NBA for 11 seasons, long enough to see most everything the league has to offer and to get to know a fair number of players within it. For that matter, he’s always seemed to keep a relatively level head, staying competitive without letting his emotions get the better of him.
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That said, no one could expect Iguodala to compliment an opponent for blocking his shot in the most important game of his team’s season. But that’s exactly what Iguodala did late in the first quarter of Thursday’s Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
With 2:07 remaining in the opening period, surprise starter Iguodala attempted a short shot in transition but was blocked by Cavs veteran James Jones. Then, as the players settled before the ensuing inbounds play, Iguodala reached out to Jones in congratulations:
They say that the NBA is a fraternity, so I suppose it shouldn’t come as too much of a shock that Iguodala didn’t take Jones’s fine defensively play personally. At the same time, we can’t really knock James for failing to recognize Iguodala’s dap, because this is Game 4 of the NBA Finals. I guess different guys show their competitiveness in different ways.
Missed high-five aside, this block was one of the few things that went wrong for the Warriors in the first half. The small starting lineup helped Golden State to a 54-42 lead by the break, their best showing in the series so far. Iguodala was particularly solid with nine points (4-of-7 FG), six rebounds and quality defense on LeBron James in 22 minutes.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
