The Warriors have had an interesting off-season, to say the least. After losing Kevin Durant to the Brooklyn Nets and Klay Thompson to injury in the NBA Finals, the Bay Area team has been looking to rebuild, with the standout acquisition of D’Angelo Russell.

However, a move that went under the radar is that of Andre Iguodala‘s trade to the Memphis Grizzlies. Iguodala has been instrumental to the Warriors’ success during the past couple of years. Iggy managed to win three championships with the Warriors, including a finals MVP award back in the 2014-15 NBA Finals for his fantastic performance against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Earlier this month, Warriors Co-Chairman & CEO Joe Lacob released a statement suggesting his intent to retire Kevin Durant’s No. 35 jersey, and now he’s confirming the decision to retire Iguodala’s No. 9.

“During the summer of 2013, we went through an extensive free agency process in our efforts to sign Andre Iguodala. At that time, we envisioned him becoming a vital part of a young, up-and-coming team with championship aspirations. As we look back six years later, we actually underestimated what his value would be to our team, both on the court and in the locker room,” Lacob said in the statement. “In what has been well-documented, Andre sacrificed for the betterment of our team and, in one of the best stories of this journey, earned NBA Finals MVP honors in 2015. He has been absolutely vital to our success during five consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals and three championships. We thank Andre for his contributions and look forward to seeing his number in the rafters at Chase Center.”

Iguodala was traded to Memphis in a deal that gave the Grizzlies the veteran player and a protected first-round draft pick in exchange for Julian Washburn.

Warriors trade Andre Iguodala to Memphis pic.twitter.com/F1Os1Zdk8c

— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) July 7, 2019