Andre Iguodala walked to the podium Monday night in Memphis following the Warriors' 28-point loss to the Grizzlies at FedExForum, turned two microphones to his right and began addressing reporters. He couldn't sit down.
The loss marked the first game Iguodala had played in seven weeks while dealing with a back injury. His 16 minutes off the bench were the most he has played since Jan. 20. He was both reminded of the impact that he can have on the Warriors, and his age.
"I'm 38, and not too many people are 38 playing in the NBA," Iguodala said. "Just very fortunate to be able to get out there and help the guys. Tough night, but I had some fun. Saw some good things, saw some bad things.
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"I saw some really good things where I feel like now I can speak on it because I'm out there. It's hard to speak on things when you're not out there fighting with the guys. Now I can dig into the guys a little bit."
Iguodala entered the game with 3:18 remaining in the first quarter. Just 15 seconds later, he attempted his first shot since Feb. 7 and drained a 3-pointer to drown out Memphis fans booing the former NBA Finals MVP who was traded from the Warriors to the Grizzlies in July of 2019, but never suited up in a single game with hopes of calling somewhere else his home.
In his return, Iguodala's plus-2 led the Warriors in plus-minus. Until the very end of the game, he was Golden State's only player with a positive plus-minus. Juan Toscano-Anderson joined him in the final seconds and was a plus-1.
The 18-year veteran scored six points, on a 3-pointer, a dunk and one free throw. He also added three rebounds and two assists. But defense always will be his main responsibility, and Iguodala shed some light on why the Warriors have been reeling so much on that side of the ball.
Golden State Warriors
"I think we've been struggling defensively with kind of just our ball pressure, and we got bad habits with our fouling," Iguodala said. "When we can't foul, we struggle with containing the ball. I did a decent job in the third quarter guarding the point guard who's very crafty and was giving us problems in the first half.
"I think I just gave us kind of a blueprint of being in the right position, whether you're on the ball or off the ball. That's the reason why we've been giving up a shit-ton of points the last couple weeks."
The Warriors scored only 37 points in the first half, their second-lowest scoring half of the season. They also allowed 43 points in the second quarter alone. At the end of the first half, the Warriors had made only 12 shots and fouled 14 times.
After Steve Kerr's ejection going into halftime, the Warriors played much better in the third quarter, as they seem to always do. Iguodala was a plus-8 in seven minutes and 40 seconds off the bench in the third, which led both teams. His stability was felt on offense and defense, and the Warriors began turning a corner while still being blown out.
Iguodala also became just the latest in a long list of Warriors players and coaches to call out their ball pressure and individual defense or lack thereof.
"I think it's just about reinforcing the fundamentals," Iguodala said. "The NBA as a whole has gotten away from the fundamentals. It's more of a pickup game. I don't want to be one of those old guys that kind of nitpicks at the game, but it's just the reality of it."
Along with comparing the NBA to more of a game in the park, Iguodala went on to explain how that has changed the mentality of basketball, especially on defense, and it could be a problem with the Warriors right now.
"We don't get mad anymore when someone scores on us," Iguodala said. "That's the true essence of basketball: Competing, and it's like, I don't want you to score. Obviously, this is a scorer's league. I know that more than anyone because I'm a defender -- but it's like, I'm going to make you work as hard as possible to get a bucket and we want to get you to your weak spots, and it's like we're getting away from the nuances on defense."
Iguodala, who had missed the Warriors' last 21 games, has been held to only 27 games this season while dealing with injuries and general rest. The Warriors on Monday night were without Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Otto Porter Jr. That's on top of the No. 2 pick from the 2020 draft not being able to play at all this season.
But the reality is, the Grizzlies improved to 18-2 this season without Ja Morant after their win. The Warriors dropped to 3-9 without Curry, and are 5-16 without him over the last two seasons. No team wins without their stars. That's also the current reality for the Warriors, and they need to figure it out in a hurry.
"It's just a part of the game, injuries are," Iguodala said. "And we haven't been able to be full strength. Have we been full strength all year? We haven't, not one minute. Yeah, not even a second.
"It's just a part of the game, and what we can't do is play the blame game when things don't turn out the way they should."
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Thompson and Porter still aren't playing on back-to-backs. The same goes with Draymond right now, who has looked like a shell of himself in the six games he has played since returning from his back injury. Curry will be re-evaluated Friday, but there's no telling when he'll be back playing in games.
And the last thing Iguodala believes the Warriors should do is rush Steph back.
"One thing we have to do is realize that ... being smart about how we start to implement guys," Iguodala said. "Because Steph's out and you can't replace that, he's one of the top players ever. Don't want to rush him back or put too much pressure on him. That's how you get another injury.
"That's kind of what happened to me all year, trying to rush back. Just trying to be smart about it, trying to hold down the fort and interesting enough, we're going to have to use the playoffs to get better too. It's just the situation."
At least one part of the band is back, and he's sure to always bring a breath of fresh air and a needed perspective on an indescribable Warriors season.