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Andre Iguodala fined $10,000 for 'master' comments, remarks the NBA finds 'inappropriate'

kelly dwyer
Andre Iguodala. (Getty Images)
Andre Iguodala. (Getty Images)

Andre Iguodala said some strange things on Friday night. Perhaps not the strangest thing to take in from a frustrated co-worker in an intimate travel setting, but certainly strange to hear from someone on record in description of their reaction to news about a basketball event.

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Iguodala has been fined $10,000 by the NBA for “inappropriate comments during a postgame media interview,” as clarified by the league in a statement.

Following top seeded Golden State’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, a loss that was topped with the news that Iguodala, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson would sit out for Saturday night’s highly-anticipated pairing with the No. 2-seeded San Antonio Spurs. Iguodala, the only member of that group to rank above 30 years old, tossed this off in response:

Iguodala was asked if he knew about Kerr’s decision before Friday’s game.

“Nope, no clue,” he said. “I do what master say.”

Our own Eric Freeman, following the game, accurately pointed out that Andre “could have chosen his words better.” Other words followed.

Iguodala, apparently not exactly in a playful mood while on the first night of an expected back-to-back, went on (NSFW):

From MSN:

“We gotta score more than the other team. Yep, they want dumb n—s, so I’m going to give y’all a dumb n—.”

Iguodala continued on his regrettable theme when asked if there were other issues beyond just the team’s offense. “What would dumb n—s say? ‘Just play harder. Figure it out. Change gonna come.’ You know what we used to say. Change gonna come.”

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Steve Kerr, over the weekend, dismissed any talk that would have him setting up on opposite side of Andre Iguodala:

“You guys got Andre’d,” he laughed. “You got Andre’d. Andre is one of those guys who likes to stir the pot and has a lot of cryptic messaging at times, jokes around. I didn’t take anything from it. Just Andre being Andre.”

After making the comment, Iguodala told ESPN that it wasn’t meant to be a shot at Kerr and was only an inside joke. Kerr said he’d heard Iguodala say similar things in private.

“Sure, yeah,” Kerr said. “Like I said, Andre is extremely intelligent. He sees a lot of the hypocrisy in the world and expresses his displeasure in strange ways at times. He said what he said. I don’t think it meant a whole lot. But he has to answer that question, what he meant by that. I wasn’t offended by anything he said personally.”

Consider that in response to what Iguodala – caught by the surprise at the social media backlash from Friday night – said hours after his initial “master” comment:

“Me and Steve are cool,” Iguodala told ESPN. “[People] can think what they want to think.”

On Monday, prior to news of the fine, Iguodala explained himself further, citing the “robotic type of mindset” that comes from too many hours in the same work setting, and how his thoughts may have been released in a forum that “may not have been the right time or place to speak.”

In-joke? Inappropriate? Ill-conceived? Ill-little bit of each of these things?

Maybe a deal? Possibly?

You can get the NBA’s side of things. You don’t want a player, too comfortable with a teammate, using the N-word in friendly description. Things we say amongst friends probably wouldn’t act as the best fodder to toss out for the public record, because sometimes the public just doesn’t want to hear our dry in-jokes – some people feel weird just typing “I do what master say,” and those are the words we can print.

Is that fine-worthy? That feels like a bit much, but if a precedent has to be set, the league probably feels, let it be set with one of its smartest, more engaging and thoughtful (not to mention, championship-caliber) players.

It’s annoying as hell to be part of a team that had (at that point) lost four of six (now five of seven).

It’s annoying to work in a league, as an employee typically working on Bay Area time, that considers games in Minneapolis and San Antonio to be “in-conference.”

It’s annoying to play those two teams, already half a country away to begin with, at the other separate ends of the country on back to back nights – you wouldn’t schedule a Lakers and Spurs game on back-to-back nights, but they play about as far away as Minneapolis does from San Antonio

Sometimes annoyance and fatigue adds to a lack of clarity, especially when asked to play the team spokesman just minutes after your body and brain were given reason to decompress (at just before midnight, local time) with news that you weren’t working the next night.

And it’s going to cost Andre Iguodala, though just a little bit.

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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!