In the 2014-2015 NBA Finals, Iguodala averaged 16.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4 assists and 1.3 steals per game, and his average score per game ranked fourth among players on both teams, lower than James, Curry and Irving, with an average score of nearly 10 points lower than Curry, an average of 2.3 fewer assists per game, and an average of 0.5 fewer steals per game, but he pushed Curry to get the Finals MVP, because he defended James significantly, and his role in that year's Finals was very large.
Recalling the wonderful moments of that year's Finals, Iguodala often fought with James in close combat, sending accurate cuts many times to destroy James' offense, if you only look at these highlights, you will definitely think that Iguodala is James's nemesis, think he can defend James, so is this really the case?
Iguodala and James have played each other 62 times so far in their careers, 37 of them in the regular season and the remaining 25 in the playoffs. Comparing data that collides head-on may subvert your perceptions.
In 37 regular-season games, Iguodala averaged 14.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.4 blocks per game, shooting 50.1 percent from the field, helping his team to a 13-24 record. James averaged 27.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.2 blocks per game and shot 50.9 percent from the field.
James averaged 27.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.8 blocks per game in the regular season and shot 50.9 percent from the field. It can be found that when James faced Iguodala, only the average assists per game were lower than the average assists per game of his career, and other data were higher than the average data of his career, indicating that when meeting in the regular season, Iguodala did not bring much trouble to James.
In 25 playoff games, Iguodala averaged 11.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.6 blocks per game, shooting 48.9 percent from the field, helping his team achieve a 14-11 record. James averaged 30.7 points, 11.6 rebounds, 8.6 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocks per game, shooting 47.3 percent from the field, helping his team achieve an 11-14 record.
James averaged 28.7 points, 9 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.9 blocks per game in the playoffs, shooting 49.5 percent from the field. It can be found that when James faced Iguodala in the playoffs, his shooting percentage was lower than usual, but his scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and blocks were higher than his career average, which was enough to show that Iguodala did not limit James in the playoffs.
Counting the 62 alignments in the regular season and playoffs, James averaged 29.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.7 steals, 1.2 blocks, and shot 49.3% from the field.
That year's Finals, James lost Lefour and Irving successively, he single-core with the Remnant Cavaliers and the Warriors against, the Warriors used a defensive strategy similar to wheel war to consume James, making James' scoring less efficient, Iguodala is only the most important part of the defensive strategy, he is not the Warriors' entire strategy to defend James.
Behind the seemingly well-defended, James slashed 35+13+8 in the Finals that year, even as the losing party, he also won several votes for the FMVP, if it was the Cavaliers who won, he was undoubtedly the FMVP winner, unfortunately the Cavaliers lost the series 2-4 that year.
Iguodala won the FMVP that year not because he limited James, but because he also played an extremely important role on the offensive end, no less important than on the defensive end. The Warriors won the first game, but then lost two games in a row, and were overtaken by the Cavaliers.
Starting in Game 4, Kerr used the Death Five, in which Iguodala played an important role, overshadowing Curry in the next three games to help the Warriors win three consecutive championships. Although he averaged only 16.3 points per game in the Finals, his shooting percentage was as high as 52.1%, second only to Mozgov and David Lee, two interior players, with a three-point shooting rate of 40%, he worked hard to defend James on the defensive end, and he could play such an efficient performance on the offensive end, and there was a certain reason for getting FMVP.