Rasheed Wallace is known for offering unconventional opinions on various NBA topics. His recent statement claiming that his 2004 Detroit Pistons team was better than the championship-winning 2017 Golden State Warriors team garnered attention. However, Andre Iguodala, a former swingman for the Warriors, disagrees with Wallace's assessment.
Iguodala addressed Wallace's comment on “Point Forward” with co-host Evan Turner, noting, “Would we have won? Yes. But [the 2004 Pistons] probably would give us the most problems of any team.”
Andre Igoudala giving props to the 2017 Warriors bench
“Their starting five would be a good match-up but the score was 80 something to 80 something right? They keep talking about us defensively, like how much defense would we have to worry about if they only score 80 some points right?” Iguodala continued.
“You don’t really hear too much about our bench and the stuff we did. So Shaun Livingston, myself, (Leandro) Barbosa, we had so many interesting lineups, and then they keep forgetting about Zaza (Pachulia). In terms of his toughness, Zaza would have been a great matchup for the Pistons and Javale (McGee) actually was really good for us. They think about the core which is what you should think about, but we had a really good bench,” the former Finals MVP said.
Andre Iguodala had four championship titles with the legendary Warriors, particularly excelling during their peak year in 2017.
Rasheed Wallace's argument
Rasheed Wallace played a crucial role for the 2004 Detroit Pistons, joining them in a key midseason move that contributed to their NBA Championship victory. The team is often regarded as one of the greatest defensive units in NBA history.
Wallace is confident that the team's elite defense would secure a victory against the 2017 Golden State Warriors if they were to face each other.
“We have an NBA record that won't ever be broken. We kept six or seven teams under 70 points. In this scoring ever, that would never be broken again. We were defense, We would've beat the sh*t out of them. I'm gonna address that because Draymond said this bullsh*t on his and Shaq's podcast. We would have beat the sh*t out of them simply because of the simple fact that they couldn't match up with us at any position.”
The 2004 Pistons solidified their dominance by convincingly defeating the Kobe and Shaq-led Lakers in a 4-1 Finals series. Yet, the 2017 Warriors pose a completely different challenge with their offensive prowess and versatile gameplay.
The Pistons’ Finals victory over the Lakers contributed to Shaq's departure from the franchise that summer. Their defensive achievements set NBA records that remain significant, particularly in today's era of more offensive-oriented basketball.
When the Pistons upset the Lakers, the Lakers were on the brink of turmoil due to the feud between Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. In contrast, the Warriors were in excellent form with a 16-1 record in the 2017 playoffs.
Comparing the 2004 Pistons and the 2017 Warriors
The 2004 Pistons achieved notable defensive milestones that season, boasting the lowest opponent points per game (PPG) in the regular season (84.26) and playoffs (80.7) in the 21st century.
They held opponents to under 70 points in 11 games, including a stretch of five consecutive games. The New Jersey Nets ended that streak and considered scoring over 70 points a victory.
The 2017 Warriors are often regarded as one of the greatest teams in NBA history due to their exceptional talent. This was a team that had achieved a remarkable 73-9 record in the preceding regular season and then strengthened their lineup by adding a prime league MVP in Kevin Durant.
Igoudala’s 2017 Warriors came close to making NBA history with a potential 16-0 playoff run, winning their first 15 games before losing Game 4 to the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals.
Their statistical dominance was evident as they ranked first in offense with 115.6 points per game and second in defense, allowing 104.0 points per game during the season. Their dominance is often regarded as one of the closest instances to a perfect playoff run in NBA history.
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