Andre Iguodala Says Old School Players Had To Be Perfect, While Today’s Players Can Have Holes And Still Play In The NBA

Andre Iguodala, a four-time NBA champion, recently shared a powerful observation about how the standards of basketball have changed over the years. During a stream with Kyrie Irving, Iguodala compared today’s league with the NBA he grew up watching and partially played in, and didn’t hold back. 

While he made it clear that his comments weren’t meant to discredit today’s talent, he insisted that older generations of players simply didn’t have the luxury of imperfection.

"Like back in the day, and this is no knock, this is no knock on our game, but back in the day, you could not have a weakness. Every part of your game had to be perfection."

"Like now, you can have a hole in your game, but you can still get on the court. Like, all right, we know how to hide you. We switch everything. We know how to load up. We can play zone."

"If you shoot 40% from three, you going to play. I feel like Steve Kerr... I found an exception to this statement but Steve Kerr did not miss an open shot."

"Like back then... You perfected your job. Like Dale Davis, Antonio Davis, like they would make 10-footers all day long. They would make their hook shots, or they were boxing out, they getting every rebound. Like, guards don’t come down here. it’s my job."

"And then there was no room for growth. It was like, you going to grow and mature in your game through practice. Like, we not experimenting you getting better. Like, there was no tanking."

According to him, modern players can afford to be flawed in one or more areas and still find their way onto the court. He pointed out how systems today are built around masking limitations, switch-heavy defenses, zone coverages, and role specialization, all allow teams to hide players who may not be elite defenders or creators.

Today’s NBA, Iguodala believes, is more forgiving but also more volatile. If a player can shoot 40% from three, they’re given room to play even if other areas of their game are weak. 

It’s a numbers-driven league now, where spacing and pace often outweigh fundamentals. That’s allowed for greater offensive creativity and freedom, but also led to scenarios where players don’t need to be well-rounded to succeed.

Another topic Iguodala touched on was the absence of tanking in the old-school era. Teams didn’t throw away seasons in pursuit of draft picks.

Pride and job security ruled the league. With no guaranteed contracts or job security for fringe players, every game mattered personally and professionally.

Today, by contrast, load management, rest, and tanking strategies are commonplace. While these methods have helped preserve player longevity and maximize long-term team strategy, Iguodala believes they’ve also diluted some of the league’s competitive spirit.

Ultimately, his words weren’t an indictment of modern basketball, but a reminder of how much the league has evolved.