Golden State Warriors sixth man Andre Iguodala is pretty much over the 73-win talk. Whether or not the Warriors actually achieve the 73 wins necessary to top the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls does not matter one bit to him. After all, he has much bigger fish to fry in this basketball season.
Iguodala is solely focused on winning a second straight championship. The NBA Finals Most Valuable Player from last June’s NBA Finals wants nothing more than back-to-back titles, so you might have to excuse him for the blunt way that he seems to dismiss all the hoopla surrounding a record-breaking season.
From Michael Lee of The Vertical on Yahoo! Sports:
“What does it mean? The New England Patriots go whatever-and-0, and then they don’t win a Super Bowl and y’all don’t talk about them anymore. What difference does it make?” Iguodala said. “I just want us to play at a high level, which we can do.”
In theory, Iguodala is correct. The Patriots are talked about these days, but not in a flattering tone. In that historic season, they were unable to finish with a Super Bowl victory. Iguodala doesn’t want the Warriors to fall into the same category.
It’s hard to blame him. The veteran sixth man feels like the Warriors are destined for greatness, and focusing solely on the single-season wins record could be especially draining. Ultimately, that’s not what matters. To get it, the team has to win their final four games but it’s the 16 wins needed in the playoffs that matter much more.