There is no doubt that the Golden State Warriors dynasty from a couple of years back will go down in history as one of the most dominant teams that ever took the court. As it turns out, however, Dwight Howard could have actually destroyed that dynasty even before it started. This is exactly what former Dubs star Andre Iguodala sensationally revealed in a recent interview.
Appearing on an episode of JJ Redick's The Old Man & The Three podcast, Iguodala shared the shocking story behind his decision to join the Warriors in 2013. Apparently, Iguodala was set on joining the Dallas Mavericks instead of the Dubs:
“I was actually gonna go with Dallas,” he said, via Darryn Albert of Larry Brown Sports. “Dallas was the spot. I wanted to go to Dallas. Big fan of [owner] Mark [Cuban] … I know they wanna win. I like how they take care of their players who win championships.”
You have to note that Iguodala joined the Warriors in the summer of 2013. At that time, Dirk Nowitzki was still with the Mavs, so it's interesting to imagine what type of impact Iggy would have had on the Mavs if he actually went to Dallas. This was also just two years after the Mavs bagged the NBA title in 2011.
According to Iguodala, however, it was Dwight Howard's rumored move to the Mavs that ended up being the deal-breaker for him:
“[But] Dwight Howard decides to stall everybody with what he was going to do,” Iguodala went on. “So Dwight helped me. No one knows that. Everyone knew he was going to Houston. But for some reason, he was like, ‘I’m gonna see Dallas.’ So Mark Cuban was like, ‘Yo, it’s a generational talent,' which Dwight is … They were like, ‘We gotta give Dwight the respect, and we gotta give him a meeting because now we’re on his list.'”
While the Mavs were doing their due diligence on Howard, the Warriors pounced and ended up striking a trade deal with the Denver Nuggets to bring Iguodala to The Bay.
For what it's worth, Howard also bailed on the Mavs and decided to join the Houston Rockets that summer. Nevertheless, if Howard did not declare his intention to join the Mavs, then it's likely that Iguodala never ended up joining the Warriors.
You could argue that the Dubs could have still gone on to establish their dynasty without Iguodala, but considering how he was such a huge piece for them throughout their dominance in the league — let's not forget that Iggy bagged 2015 Finals MVP — it's also very much possible that there could have been no Warriors dynasty without Andre Iguodala.
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