Steve Kerr Strongly Defends Andre Iguodala's $48M Warriors Contract

Programming note: Watch the pregame edition of Warriors Outsiders this afternoon at 4, streaming live on the MyTeams app.

Andre Iguodala scored 20 points in the Warriors' NBA Finals-clinching Game 5 win over the Cavs in 2017.

It was the perfect way for the 2015 Finals MVP to enter free agency.

It appeared Iguodala truly was about to sign elsewhere (he even played a joke on coach Steve Kerr and GM Bob Myers by telling them he would sign with the Kings). But in the end, the Warriors ended up giving Iguodala $48 million guaranteed over three seasons.

"Are we overpaying statistically? Probably," Kerr recently told Anthony Slater of The Athletic. "Are we overpaying in terms of his value on winning a championship? Hell, no.

"Can you imagine us without him? No. He's been worth every penny and more."

Kerr couldn't be more correct.

Iguodala sustained a spider fracture in his left knee during Game 3 of last year's Western Conference finals against the Rockets, and the Warriors dropped the next two games. The Dubs ultimately persevered and took Games 6 and 7, but Iguodala's absence nearly cost them the championship.

Now, at age 35, the ninth overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft is playing his best basketball in a couple of years.

[RELATEDIguodala reveals some of his secrets for staying explosive]

Some people believe Iguodala makes too much money, and some people won't ever give him the respect he deserves. But that's OK with Iguodala.

"I don't think about it like I'm proving anyone wrong," Iguodala told The Athletic. "Because sometimes in sports, you get paid for what you've done before. I know plenty of guys who have outgrown their contracts but don't get rewarded for it. And then they kind of taper off and people say they're overpaid.

"But in the grand scheme of the whole career, that's what they should have got."

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