Andre Iguodala named NBA Finals MVP

Omnisports Pulse

June 17, 2015 3:55 AM

Golden State's Andre Iguodala has been named Most Valuable Player of the 2015 NBA Finals after the Warriors won game six 105-97 to clinch the title.

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The versatile forward, who did not start a match in the series until game four, shot 25 points on Tuesday, while he finished the Finals with an average of 16.3 points per game.

Iguodala's defence on Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James was decisive in the Warriors' first NBA title in 40 years, while the 31-year-old's surprising influence in attack in the second half of the series was critical.

After the Cavs went 2-1 up in the series, Iguodala was put into the starting line-up at the expense of centre Andrew Bogut and scored 22, 14 and 25 in the next three games as the Warriors won all three to be crowned champions.

Iguodala averaged 5.8 rebounds, 4 assists and 1.3 steals per game over the six games of the NBA Finals.

Speaking at his post-match media conference, Iguodala insisted he would not have been surprised if someone had told him he would be named MVP before the NBA Finals, although he still thought regular season MVP Steph Curry was the favourite.

"I'm not surprised, but I would have bet on ‑ I would have bet on Steph. I would have bet on Draymond [Green]. Draymond's been great for us all year and very, very high‑IQ guy," Iguodala said.

"This is the type of series where he can get triple‑double numbers every night, and we saw it in the Houston series, and I knew it would carry over.

"So those two guys I would have bet on. I was just happy we for winning the ring. I didn't care about anything else. This is just a plus."

Iguodala added that he has effectively been building up to these Finals throughout his 11-year NBA career where he was the Warriors' go-to man to defend James.

"I've seen him [James] every year I've been in this league," the Golden State forward said.

"LeBron doesn't have any weaknesses, or he doesn't have a glaring weakness. So you've got to pick up on the smaller things to try to make him uncomfortable. Like knowing which side he likes to shoot threes off the dribble, which side he likes to drive. One side he'll drive left more often, and the other side he'll drive right more often.

"So after 11 years you're just picking up all this information."

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