The Andre Iguodala era with the Golden State Warriors may be over, but the franchise has plans to honor the small forward's services by retiring his No. 9 jersey number.
Golden State formally announced trading the former Arizona Wildcat to the Memphis Grizzlies Sunday morning. In the statement, Golden State co-chairman and CEO Joe Lacob said the Warriors "look forward to seeing his number in the rafters at Chase Center."
"During the summer of 2013, we went through an extensive free agency process in our efforts to sign Andre Iguodala," Lacob said in the statement. "At that time, we envisioned him becoming a vital part of a young, up-and-coming team with championship aspirations. As we look back six years later, we actually underestimated what his value would be to our team, both on the court and in the locker room.
"In what has been well-documented, Andre sacrificed for the betterment of out team and, in one of the stories of this journey, earned NBA Finals MVP honors in 2015. He has been absolutely vital to our success during five consecutive apperances in the NBA Finals and three championships. We thank Andre for all of his contributions and look forward to seeing his number in the rafters at Chase Center."
Andre, thank you 💙 pic.twitter.com/YTLF97fxwP
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) July 7, 2019
Known as the sixth man, which is the title of his new book, Iguodala averaged 7.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 26.7 minutes per game since joining Golden State in 2013. Helping the Warriors win three championships, Iguodala became the first Arizona Wildcat in history to earn NBA Finals MVP honors.
Iguodala and an unprotected first-round draft pick was traded to the Grizzlies on July 1 in order for the Warriors to create cap space in the sign-and-trade deal for All-Star guard D'Angelo Russell. In return, Golden State will receive forward Julian Washburn, who was under a two-way deal with Memphis in 2019.
Iguodala isn't the only former Wildcat to have his jersey number retired by an NBA team. The San Antonio Spurs retired Tucson native and former UA standout Sean Elliott's No. 32 jersey.
