Why Spoelstra called Iguodala ‘the fountain of youth,’ and a look at his Heat impact

The Miami Heat, like many teams around the NBA, faced one question over and over again during the first half of the season: Who is unavailable?

Leading man Jimmy Butler missed 14 games, free agent addition Avery Bradley was unavailable for 25 games, veteran guard Goran Dragic missed 14 games, second-year guard Tyler Herro missed 11 games, and center Meyers Leonard played in only three games before he sustained a season-ending shoulder injury.

But as a chunk of the Heat’s rotation dealt with injury and COVID-19 protocol-related issues, the second-oldest player on the roster was one of the most consistently available. Veteran forward Andre Iguodala missed only two of the Heat’s first 36 games of the season, and one was for rest purposes on the front end of a back-to-back set in late December.

“I’ve been feeling pretty good the majority part of the year minus these nicks and bruises,” Iguodala said, with the NBA in the middle of the All-Star break and the Heat (18-18) resuming its schedule on Thursday against the Orlando Magic at AmericanAirlines Arena. “But I’ve only missed two games, so just trying to get through the year without missing too many. I want to be out there every night.”

What sparked the Heat’s turnaround? Udonis Haslem on the most painful, but important moments

Iguodala, 37, is averaging 4.9 points while shooting 33.9 percent on threes, 3.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals in a bench role in his 17th NBA season. He has become a fixture in the Heat’s late-game lineups, averaging 8.6 fourth-quarter minutes per game.

Iguodala scored nine of his 10 points in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s road win over the New Orleans Pelicans to close the first half of the season. That’s the most fourth-quarter points Iguodala has scored since he was traded to the Heat last February, and four came at the free-throw line with the Pelicans intentionally fouling him down the stretch because of his subpar free-throw percentage.

“He brings that stability on the floor and even off the floor,” Dragic said of Iguodala. “He has got a lot of experience. He has been in a lot of tough games. He won championships. So it’s always nice to have a guy next to you to ask for some advice. He’s like an open book. ... Him, [Udonis Haslem], those two guys are tremendous for our team.”

But while Haslem and Iguodala work together as two of the Heat’s veteran leaders, they have different leadership styles. Haslem is known to “go crazy” at times when the team isn’t playing well, and Iguodala takes a more patient and measured approach.

“‘Dre has been great, man,” Haslem said. “Having so many different perspectives on different things and being able to play devil’s advocate when I go crazy.”

Iguodala, who has a $15 million team option in his contract for next season, offered a glimpse into his leadership style when asked Thursday how he has navigated the condensed NBA schedule amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Games every other day is just taking a toll on the entire league,” he said. “But that’s just the curse of the business and guys are just trying to figure out ways to weather it mentally more than anything. I just try to keep upbeat, try to keep my perspective in good place. Because there are a lot of people that are struggling right now, a lot of small business having to shut down. A lot of people are struggling, people are searching for stimulus checks and the whole nine. But at the same time, you can’t put a price on mental health no matter what your income is.

“The beast of the business is kind of leaning on us a little bit hard, and we’re just trying to weather that storm, as well. So just trying to be a good teammate, trying to help the guys, trying to figure out ways to interact with them.”

Despite the unique circumstances surrounding this season, Iguodala said he’s “trying to have a lot of fun” but also understands that “winning is very important in this business.” That’s where he noted that having “a good balance” is important to keep the proper perspective through it all.

“Andre is the fountain of youth,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said following Thursday’s win in New Orleans. “But he really is just a really good winning basketball player. Even the steal that he made at the end, that’s just pure experience and instincts to be able to read that and anticipate it and come up with a steal.

“That’s what winning players do when you have winning plays to be made. You just do it, and it’s not by the book. It’s make a free throw here, it’s a dunk there, it’s a steal there, it’s a defensive stop or a resistance to a rebound on another play. Andre just knows how to impact winning in that final win-loss column. But he’s getting younger as the season goes on, so let’s just keep him going in that direction. He can use a few days to play good rounds of golf.”

The Heat is expected to return to practice on Wednesday before beginning the second half of its regular-season schedule on Thursday.