Andre Iguodala Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

Is Andre Iguodala a Basketball Hall of Famer?

Andy Bailey

After 19 campaigns and 44,773 regular and postseason minutes, 2004 draftee Andre Iguodala is calling it an NBA career.

He talked about the "beautiful run" on ESPN's First Take shortly after the news hit the internet.

And now, it's time to tackle the question that often follows the retirement of the league's big-name players: Is he a Hall of Famer?

One of the most immediate and accessible data points in this discussion is Basketball Reference's "Hall of Fame Probability."

"For the Hall of Fame problem, we tried to use as many predictor variables as we could," the site's explanation reads. "Player awards, sustained effectiveness as measured by appearances on leaderboards, and peak dominance (measured as a player's peak Win Shares output), all have explanatory value."

With all of the above (and a little more) thrown into the mix, Basketball Reference's formula gives Iguodala a 12.7 percent chance to get in. That may not sound like much, but bear in mind that multiple Hall of Famers grade out worse than Iggy in that model and his exact percentage ranks 169th all-time (there are 162 NBA players currently in the Hall).

Bernard King, Bobby Jones, Pete Maravich and Spencer Haywood are among those below 12.7, and their two combined championships (one for Jones in 1983 and one for Hawyood in 1980) have a lot to do with that.

Iguodala has four, and he certainly wasn't a casual observer of those title runs with the Golden State Warriors.

Set Number: X159718 TK1

Beyond winning Finals MVP in 2015, Iguodala is third among Warriors with 200-plus Finals minutes since the start of the 2015 series in Finals box plus/minus ("a basketball box score-based metric that estimates a basketball player's contribution to the team when that player is on the court"). Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry are the only players above him on that list.

So, while his career Finals averages of 9.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.0 steals may not leap off the screen, other numbers better capture his impact as a defender and playmaker.

There's no question basic numbers like points, rebounds and assists are factored into these debates, though. And Iguodala's career average of 11.3 points falls well shy of the Hall's average of 17.4 for the aforementioned 162 honorees. But that simple comparison doesn't give Iguodala enough credit for his wide-ranging contributions.

In the regular and postseason combined, Iguodala totaled 6,823 rebounds, 5,765 assists, 1,982 steals and 721 blocks. Kobe Bryant, Clyde Drexler, Kevin Garnett, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone and Scottie Pippen are the only players in league history to match or exceed all four marks.

Steals and blocks not being tracked by the league prior to 1973-74 certainly changes the player pool, but that's still pretty remarkable company. And the list is a good illustration of Iguodala's versatility.

Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

There's an argument that the Hall of Fame should be a more exclusive club. Every few classes that go in, there's someone whose case is picked apart by the media. And there's some validity to that argument. Stacked up next to some of the all-timers who first come to mind when you think about the Hall, Iguodala's one All-Star appearance, two All-Defensive nods and zero All-NBA selections might not look great.

But the counter is readily apparent too. And few players in NBA history represent that counter quite like Iguodala. Points are important. They might be the game's most important counting stat, but they're not the only one. At various points throughout his career, Iguodala showed an ability to do everything (including scoring).

At what may have been his offensive peak, he averaged 19.9 points in 2007-08 and led a team that made the playoffs in scoring. Over four seasons from 2006-07 to 2009-10, he averaged 18.5 points. He averaged at least five assists in six different seasons, and he averaged at least 1.5 steals in 10 seasons.

Iguodala was the most important reserve player on multiple championship teams. He demonstrated a willingness to go from a star player to a role player in a way few others have. And he was a critical component of the Warriors' "Death Lineup," which included Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson and was one of the most feared units in the NBA for half a decade.

Massive individual stat lines go a long way toward getting into the Hall of Fame, but its stature or prestige would not be diminished by adding Iguodala.

On the contrary, placing him there would demonstrate the importance of winning, teamwork and defense to the game.

   

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