Lakers News: Vet Considers East All-Star Most Similar To Kobe Bryant He's Seen
Hall of Fame Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant had a one-of-a-kind career, appearing in seven NBA Finals and winning five titles while playing all 20 of his NBA seasons for the same franchise.
Golden State Warriors small forward Andre Iguodala, a four-time NBA champion who played alongside Bryant on the gold medal-winning 2012 U.S. Olympic team, appeared on retired point guard Gilbert Arenas' appropriately named podcast "Gil's Arena" for a wide-ranging chat about his prolific 19-year NBA career.
The 39-year-old Iguodala, who was healthy for just eight games with Golden State last year, is still weighing the possibility of a retirement ahead of 2023-24. If he does ultimately step away from the game, Lakers All-Star LeBron James will become the oldest active player in the league.
When talk turned to finding a modern analog for Bryant, Iguodala supplied a surprising answer: Miami Heat All-NBA small forward Jimmy Butler. Considering that Iguodala has played alongside Stephen Curry and played in five NBA Finals against LeBron James (four with Golden State, one with Miami), his selection of Butler could seem a bit surprising.
But to hear Iguodala unpack the situation, his selection of the six-time All-Star actually makes plenty of sense. Butler played alongside Iguodala for parts of two seasons on the Heat (h/t to Basket News for the transcription).
"Because you always look back and say, 'How is Jimmy getting it done? He can't shoot threes, he can't go left,'" Iguodala said. "Whatever they say about Jimmy, he figured it out. I seen him dribble with his right hand left and pull up for a three against Milwaukee [Bucks] this year. He was going crazy."
"He's probably the closest that I've seen to Kobe Bryant with that mentality of just man, Jimmy will figure out a way for us to win. I've never seen a will like that. I'm like this dude got a Kobe Bryant will. A will to him to win."
Bryant has willed his Heat teams to two NBA Finals appearances (and three Eastern Conference Finals appearances, all against the Boston Celtics) in the past four seasons. During Miami's two Finals runs, the team was the lower-seeded underdog for every one of its playoff series.
Last year, the five-time All-NBA wing averaged 22.9 points on .539/.350/.850 shooting splits, 5.9 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.8 steals per contest during 64 regular season contests. His output improved to 26.9 points on .468/.359/.806 shooting splits, 6.5 boards, 5.9 assists, 1.8 steals and 0.6 blocks per bout across the team's 22 playoff contests.
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