OAKLAND, CALIF.—Andre Iguodala is an old man now, in basketball terms. The 35-year-old has been playing so long that it is easy to forget that he is a link to both the old incompetence of the Toronto Raptors and their rebirth — they passed on him with the eighth pick in the 2004 draft to take lumbering human refrigerator Rafael Araujo. Years later, then-Nuggets GM Masai Ujiri traded for Iguodala in Denver, which was his last stop before Golden State. Before the rise of an empire, and the eventual fall.
“Favourite moment from this arena?” said Iguodala before Game 6 of the NBA Finals, in which the Raptors looked to win the franchise’s first NBA championship by beating the Warriors in the final game at Oracle Arena.