Andre Iguodala sat in a boardroom surrounded by NBA general managers. Iguodala, the four-time NBA champion who’s now the NBPA’s executive director, was with 30 of the league’s top decision-makers in Chicago in May for their annual meetings, discussing possible rule changes, league-wide issues and gossip.
His phone kept buzzing, so he discreetly checked it. It wasn’t a family emergency—he was up next in his fantasy golf draft. So he toed the line between engaging in important NBA discussion and picking his 10-player roster for that weekend’s PGA Championship.
“I’m like … ‘I’m at work for real, I’m in a meeting,’ ” Iguodala told Golf Digest. “And he’ll be like, ‘‘This is a majors week. This is more important.’ ”
Iguodala—just like his former teammate on the Golden State Warriors Steph Curry, is golf-obsessed. For most of the past decade, he’s also been an avid fantasy golf player, and he recruited Curry into the league that consists mostly of friends he made away from the court. Fantasy golf has led Iguodala to look at golf in a completely different way, transforming him into one of the most notoriously golf-obsessed figures in pro hoops.
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Iguodala, who had never participated in a fantasy league for any sport, stumbled into fantasy golf through friends of a college teammate. Now he belongs to two leagues: a 14-person group and a smaller one that only picks majors. (It was the smaller league that blew up his phone at the GM meetings.) For the bigger league, there’s a $1,500 buy-in, with a total pot of $21,000, and participants accumulate earnings based on the payouts to players picked in tournaments, which the league pays out a relative percentage of the pot. Whichever member has the highest percentage of total purse money at the end of the season wins. The group also takes annual “Ryder Cup trips,” traveling to top courses (including Bandon Dunes, Sand Valley, Pinehurst and Pebble Beach) to play in a setup similar to the contest between the United States and Europe.
Andre Iguodala (left) accommopanied his fantasy golf leaguemates on a golf trip a few years ago.
Beginning in January when the PGA Tour season starts, members select two players for each major, elevated event and one for other tour events. Once a year, a league member can make a golden pick, a golfer whose earnings are doubled if they place.
“For the top purses, I want the top guys in there, and then obviously the majors are where you get the LIV guys, so you have to take that into consideration as well,” Iguodala said of his strategy. “They don’t usually get out to a good start early on … so it’s kind of tricky.”
Iguodala—who plays to a 5.8 handicap at Contra Costa Country Club and was featured in Golf Digest a few years ago—won the 14-member league the first year he played, which he attributes to beginner’s luck: At that point, he only could name the top 10 or 15 players in the world. He hasn’t won that league since, but he’s learned a ton. Now, he knows all about the top 150 golfers and often tunes into college and amateur tournaments. He joked that the only two channels he watches are Bloomberg and Golf Channel. Iguodala has also served as an on-course commentator for the PGA Championship.
Curry, who has accompanied Iguodala on golf trips like their epic one to Augusta National and gotten him to play in the American Century Championship, explained to Golf Digest how fantasy golf has also leveled up his own game.
“It has made me more knowledgeable … because I understand different golfers and their styles and [how they match] with certain courses,” Curry told Golf Digest in an email. “Especially in a one-and-done fantasy league, you have to be aware of the ‘horses for courses’ approach and obviously make the best pick for that week.”
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Neither the NBA’s crazy schedule nor the Warriors’ decade of contention could stand in the way of the fantasy league. Jordan Hadelman, who plays in the 14-player league, recalled Curry and Iguodala sending their weekly picks during one of the four Warriors-Cavaliers NBA Finals matchups.
“When those guys were playing, they’d submit picks at very interesting times,” he said.
Some of Iguodala’s friends in the fantasy league have seen correlations between his basketball career and his golf habits.
“His attention to detail is just amazing,” Hadelman said. “The reason he lasted [19] years in the league is because he is a student of the game, right? He has an attention to detail, which he applies in his whole life, including golf and fantasy golf. Sometimes he makes these obscure picks, and I’ll be like, ‘How do you have time to research this guy?’ ”
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Iguodala often researches the history of each event. He sees what kind of golfers tend to struggle or thrive on certain courses. He said it’s a multi-year process to learn the ins and outs of fantasy golf. Over the years, it’s made him think about his own shots and how he should approach certain holes and courses.
“You got some other courses where it’s like target golf, so you’re really not using your driver as much. You see a lot of guys (have) to hit it around trees or guys who can shape the ball a certain way,” Iguodala said. “Small things like that will help you look at golf in a different way, and you can implement those things into your game.
“Like, guys who are long off the tee, it might be better tournaments for them or guys who have great putting, great short games, guys who hit the ball high like on approach. It helps you go out and practice, like, ‘Oh hitting the ball higher on certain courses will help you,’ like soft courses you got to have a longer carry so it won’t roll out. So, smaller things like that you can try and implement those things into your game, and now you’re looking at golf swings in a different way.”
Fantasy golf has also given Iguodala a better sense of what it’s like to be a fan—and the awkward moments that can come with it. In 2019, Iguodala traveled to Torrey Pines to watch the Farmers Insurance Open. For the fantasy league that week, he’d picked Tony Finau, whom he had become friendly with over the years. When Iguodala saw Finau on the course, he greeted him and said, “Man, I need a big week man. I have you in fantasy.”
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Recalling the interaction five years later, Iguodala cringed.
“I got the aura, the feeling like, ‘that ain’t cool’,” Iguodala said. “I never did it again.”
Even though Iguodala’s schedule is crazy, the winnings are minimal, and he hasn’t won the league in almost a decade, he said he has no interest in quitting. He continues to participate in both of his fantasy golf leagues because of the fun he’s had doing it, the camaraderie it’s given him and the benefits it’s had for his own game—even if the results aren’t always immediate.
“It’s like a stock,” Iguodala said. “You can’t be too emotional. As Warren Buffett says, ‘Don’t let your emotions get in the way while investing.’ It’s the same with fantasy golf. Like, never be mad at a guy who didn’t have a good week.”
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
