Andre Iguodala Was Unhappy in Philly, Doug Collins Says Things Were ‘Wonderful’


Denver Nuggets forward Andre Iguodala recently opened up about his frustrations during his last few years in Philadelphia. According to Sixers head coach Doug Collins, however, everything was perfectly rosy. From CSN Philly: “When asked about Iguodala’s comments, Collins took the high road. ‘My feeling is I had a wonderful two years with ‘Dre,’ Collins said. ‘I look back and I think he made me a better coach. ‘The thing I feel great about is in the two years we were together, before I took the job I thought long and hard to talk to Jerry Colangelo and Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) about having ‘Dre on the world championship team, and what I thought he would bring to that team. Our first year, we were plus-14 wins and he was second-team All-Defense. Our next year, we go to the seventh game of the conference semifinals, and he makes the All-Star team and wins a gold medal. So I feel great about our time together.’ As a rookie, Evan Turner was thought to be unable to get along with Iguodala. Later, it was perceived the two players could not coexist on the court. Still, the third-year Sixer had his former teammate’s back. ‘Everything is not going to be perfect,’ Turner said. ‘I think ‘Dre, whether he was frustrated or not, he still came out and played every night. He played hurt. You can’t really knock his opinion. It is his opinion and I am not going to knock him for how he feels because that is a personal thing. At the end of the day, it is about what the team needs from you and what the coach asks you to do. In Andre’s defense, he always did both. Last year, he was an All-Star, won a gold medal and got us to the second round.'”