Andre Tyler Iguodala (born January 28, 1984 in Springfield, Illinois) is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA. He is sometimes nicknamed "Iggy", and "The Other A.I." because his initials are identical to teammate Allen Iverson's.
Iguodala, a 6'6", 207-pound (1.98 m, 94 kg) swingman, was selected 9th overall in the 2004 NBA Draft out of the University of Arizona. He was named first team All-Rookie in 2005 and started on the rookie team during the Rookie Challenge portion of All-Star Weekend. Iguodala played at Arizona for two years and in the 2003-2004 season collected three triple-doubles joining Jason Kidd as the only two players in Pac-10 history to post two or more triple-doubles in the same season.
Until February, 2005, he wore jersey number 4, but allowed new 76ers member Chris Webber to wear it instead, as Webber traditionally had worn that number throughout his college career and most of his professional career. Iguodala subsequently switched to wearing number 9. Webber reportedly bought Iguodala a Rolex watch for allowing him to wear the number 4.
During his first year with the Philadelphia 76ers, he was the only 76er to play and start all 82 games plus 5 playoff games. Iguodala is known for his athleticism and already holds a reputation as a strong defender. He has also earned a reputation as a “Vince Carter-like” dunker. Andre Iguodala proved his versatility – he was the only rookie and 76er to record a triple-double during the 2004-05 NBA season, despite averaging 9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. His efforts were rewarded when he was named to the All-Rookie First Team. His all around play has already earned him comparisons with all-time great Scottie Pippen as well as to current NBA star and Arizona alumnus Richard Jefferson.
As of December 21st, 2005, he has already improved his scoring, rebounding, assists, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, trimmed his turnovers down and has an increased role on the team. On February 17th, 2006, at the Rookie Challenge in Houston during the NBA All-Star Weekend, Andre won MVP honours for his 30-point performance. A day later, he lost in the Sprite Rising Stars Slam Dunk Contest to Nate Robinson. His first dunk was a simple windmill, then for his second dunk he received a pass from Allen Iverson off the back side of the backboard, then leaped under the board to avoiding hitting his head then put in the reverse on the other side. He received a "50" for pulling off this unique dunk. In the third round he pulled off a behind-the-back dunk followed by a reverse between-the-legs dunk. Although many fans in the Houston arena felt that Iguodala had won the dunk contest, the award was given to Robinson, who won by a point.
Many fans, and players, were outraged by the outcome of it. Allen Iverson said that he would not be surprised if "Andre never entered this contest again", although Andre Iguodala said that "Nate was great and he really deserved it." The fans are crying out that the only reason why Nate Robinson had won was because he was one of the shortest people to enter and that he also jumped over Spud Webb. He had 13 attempts and finally made the 14th one during the 2nd round, which many people thought was unfair because Iguodala said that his "legs were stiffing up as I looked on from the sidelines."