Joking and pulling each other?s leg is common between athletes, but sometimes it can go too far. When twisted into something else, a harmless joke might fetch a substantial amount of criticism from the fans. Something similar happened with Stephen Curry?s Warriors teammate, Andre Iguodala. It dates back to the time when Sports Illustrated did a feature on him during his time with the Philadelphia 76ers. His statements about his then-teammate rubbed a lot of fans and players the wrong way.

Steph Curry?s teammate receives backlash

Back in 2012, Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated did a piece on Andre Iguodala. In the article, the NBA All-Star made a light-hearted joke about his Sixers teammate Lou Williams. The joke, however, did not go down well with the readers, and they chastised him for his patronizing statement.

It makes no sense to me why so many good scorers can?t defend”, Iguodala remarks. ?Like Lou Williams. He?s one of the toughest guys to guard in the league, but he can?t guard anybody. I don?t get that?.

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The Warriors guard acknowledged Lou as an offensive phenom. Despite that, his remarks about Lou lacking defensive abilities drew in criticisms that questioned his sportsmanship.

Andre Iguodala gets candid about the media situation

During a recent appearance in Aarthi and Sriram?s podcast, AI opened up about the issue of words getting taken out of context during interviews. This is also the reason so many athletes nowadays have their own podcasts to connect with fans instead of opting for traditional media interviews. He bemoaned the time when the media bashed him for calling out Lou Williams on his defensive play, a joke they shared occasionally.

The 4-time NBA Champion praised former Atalanta Hawk?s shooting guard on his offensive skills, but that went unnoticed. A third party took one line out of context and reframed the piece?into something it was not.

Andre said, ?I think it was Sports Illustrated, and I was talking about how good Louis Williams was offensively, and it was all praise, and I made a joke.? He then narrated the incident, ?And we joke on we joke with Lou about his defense sometimes because no one can stay in front of him on offense. When you?re on offense but on defense, you know you can?t stand in front of anybody, you?re just kind of joking?.

He continued, ?And the reporter laughed, and he made a joke about it, but the article came out, and I got destroyed as like the worst teammate of all time?.

The Golden State Warriors swingman?s story shows the darker side of the media industry. It shows how even a benign joke can bring in a barrage of hate. The alternate narrative might even hamper one?s reputation and relationship with fellow players.

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