Andre Iguodala has made a respectful name for himself in the NBA.
Across eight seasons, he’s helped lead the Warriors to three NBA championships and earned Finals MVP honors during the 2014-15 championship over the Cavaliers.
But was this always his dream? To be a well-known name in a professional sport?
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Not necessarily.
Believe it or not, Iguodala figured he would be a teacher when he grew up.
“I come from a small town [Springfield, Illinois], and no one knew who I was,” Iguodala told Fast Company’s Claire Miller. “I thought I would go to college and become a math teacher. I remember joking around in practice and my coach was like, “You know there are NBA scouts here,” and I said, “What does that have to do with me?” He said, “Well, who do you think they’re here to see?”
That humbleness remained throughout his career. He mentioned he received advice at one point from a coach who said to take more shots than pass, but as a team player, he’s happy to be more of a distributor.
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The Warriors traded Iguodala to the Grizzlies in July in order to clear enough cap space to sign D'Angelo Russell via sign-and-trade, but Warriors owner Joe Lacob has maintained that Iguodala's No. 9 will hang from the rafters someday at Chase Center.
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But just imagine … Andre Iguodala, the math teacher. Crazy. Err, Mr. Iguodala. Perhaps Professor Iguodala?
It appears the journey he chose is working for him just fine, however.