Andre Iguodala's jersey retirement shows trend associated with big honor

Iguodala was in his 10th NBA season when he joined the Warriors in 2013, but his arrival coincided with the most successful period in team history. The Warriors won four titles with Iguodala on the roster, and he won Finals MVP as they won their first championship together in 2015.

For the series, Iguodala averaged 16.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and four assists, while shooting 52.1 percent, but he mainly won the award for slowing down LeBron James, who averaged 35.8 points but shot under 40 percent.

Iguodala is the first player from the Warriors dynasty to get his jersey retired, mainly because he's the first core player who did retire, but almost every Finals MVP has had his jersey retired by that team. Since 1979, every retired player who won Finals MVP has seen their jersey go to the rafters. Even Cedric "Cornbread" Maxwell, a good-but-not-great player who never made an All-Star team but won Finals MVP in 1981, had his No. 31 jersey retired by the Boston Celtics in 2003.

Finals MVPs LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokoummpo, Nikola Jokic, Stephen Curry and Jaylen Brown are all active, but most of that group should get their numbers retired. Despite playing just three seasons with the Warriors, team owner Joe Lacob wants to retire the jersey of 2017 and 2018 Finals MVP Durant. Leonard may be an exception, as his exit from the San Antonio Spurs (where he was the 2014 Finals MVP) was ugly, and his 2019 Final MVP was his only season with the Toronto Raptors.

The only Finals MVP who didn't have his jersey retired was Dennis Johnson, who won in 1979 as the Seattle Supersonics won their lone title. Why wasn't DJ honored? Perhaps because he only spent four years in Seattle, or because he clashed with coach Lenny Wilkens, or simply because Seattle moved to Oklahoma City.

But Johnson did get some consolation. While he only won one Finals MVP, he won two more NBA titles with the Boston Celtics, and they did retire his No. 3 jersey in 1991. So if you do win a Finals MVP, expect your jersey to be retired — somewhere.