The Golden State Warriors have struggled to gather any sustained momentum this season, and one reason why has been key injuries.
Stephen Curry has missed extended stretches of action, and forward Andrew Wiggins has been out for the last few weeks due to a personal matter.
In addition, wing Andre Iguodala has appeared in just eight games all year, and just when it looked like he was getting into the swing of things by playing in the team’s last five games, he is going to be out for a while.
Shams Charania reported that Iguodala has a fractured left wrist and that he will have surgery on it next week.
Warriors' Andre Iguodala has a fractured left wrist and will undergo surgery next week, team says.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 15, 2023
If one were to merely look at Iguodala’s stats, they may conclude that the Warriors will not miss him.
He’s averaging just 2.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 14.1 minutes per game this season, and he is clearly a shadow of what he was several years ago.
However, Iguodala’s defense and experience are invaluable to Golden State.
He was a key rotation player for all four of its championship teams in the last nine years, and it was his move into the starting lineup midway through the 2015 NBA Finals that turned that series around and gave the team its first world title of the Curry era.
A player such as Iguodala becomes much more valuable come playoff time when teams shorten their rotations and pay even more attention to defense and individual matchups.
As of now, the Warriors are in fifth place in the Western Conference and are one game behind the fourth-place Phoenix Suns.
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