My Game-Day Style: Andre Iguodala

It started with a warning. “Don’t get it,” Allen Iverson cautioned as Andre Iguodala reached for a Sean John jacket that looked a size too small during a stop at a Philadelphia clothing store. Iguodala admits the sleeves were “kind of snug” for his 6'6" frame but assured his Philadelphia 76ers teammate the jacket “fit fine” as he bought it. Iverson wasn’t convinced.

“He just kept asking me about that jacket. ‘That jacket comfortable? You really like that jacket, huh?’” Iguodala says, mid-laugh.

The questions didn’t stop there. The jacket became a running joke. “[Iverson] had other people ask me, ‘Aww Dre, that’s a nice jacket. How long you had that?’” Iguodala remembers.

While the Springfield, Illinois, native preferred super-fitted shirts and tapered jeans, Iverson encouraged the young forward to embrace a baggier style, similar to his own, a decade ago. Back then, Iguodala was the (old) Kanye to Iverson’s State Property.

“He was like, ‘Man, ya polos too little.’ He used to always crack on me. I used to laugh at his jokes,” Iguodala recalls. “But that’s how I knew, ‘This is what I want to look like. This is what I’m comfortable with,’ and stay true to myself. Like he stayed true to himself.”

Iguodala usually pairs his casual-yet-sleek blazer look with minimalist sneakers from Common Projects. The luxury brand doesn’t carry shoes that fit his size 16 foot, so Iguodala places custom orders months before shoes are released to the general public. He’s a big fan of the Achilles Low, a versatile lifestyle shoe that ages well with wear.

“I can wear these anywhere, with anything—a suit or jeans. I can wear these with sweats, joggers. These go with anything,” he says.

Despite his affinity for Common Projects, Iguodala has a diverse footwear collection in his mammoth shoe closet—with high ceilings and subtle lighting—which features upward of 300 pairs of shoes, including the Golden State Nike Air Max 1 Bespokes he designed last year and Louis Vuitton. Though he is consciously veering away from rocking sneakers these days, the Jordan 1 remains Iguodala’s favorite—he wears them on off days.

Even though Iguodala respects style that differs from his own, he doesn’t shy away from sharing his opinions on others' fashion choices. 

On Dwyane Wade: “He’s very versatile. He’ll give you all ends of the spectrum, which can be good and bad.”

On Cam Newton: “I have no idea [where he is going with his style]. I don’t know if Cam knows. Cam’s usually good. It’s just that one thing that will throw you off with his looks. Like, he’ll have a clean suit on and then he’ll...throw a hat on with the netting over it like a church lady and it just throws it off. But Cam’s usually clean.”

On Klay Thompson: “[He] doesn’t know which way he wants to go. Klay should wear staple pieces. He should wear the same thing every day. He should dress like a Silicon Valley startup CEO.”

As for the rest of the Warriors, Iguodala says much of the team avoids drawing attention with fashion, especially after the team’s profile skyrocketed with the arrival of Kevin Durant last summer. The squad’s celebrity, combined with the grind of the season, has put a premium on comfort rather than show-stopping looks.

“There’s just so much going on. Everyone’s following you. Your every move is being watched,” Iguodala says. “So a lot of our guys go in sweats—just put on some sweats and a hoodie and just zip it on tight and just keep our head down.”

Iguodala is back at it and primed to own the postseason. Just as he did in the 2015 Finals when he scored 16.3 points a game, clamped down on LeBron James during defensive assignments and rocked an electric blue suit to boot. All eyes are on the Dubs, which is why Iguodala’s Finals style approach is much like his strategy for being a champion.

“In the Finals you want to set a statement like, 'This is me. This is who I am,’” he says. “You know everyone’s watching.”