September 9th, 2019
In fairness, Iguodala probably received the news before we did.
On September 9th, Shams Charania, who had been following the story closely, reported that the Grizzlies had no intention of buying out Iguodala’s contract:
Sources: Memphis wants three-time champion Andre Iguodala to report to training camp and is refusing right now to engage in buyout, which would prevent Iguodala from finishing a Hall of Fame career on his terms because this may be his final NBA season.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 9, 2019
The move sent shock waves around the league. In a summer where so many crazy moves had happened, everybody assumed that September would be the traditionally quiet month that it has been over the years. But this year was different. This year started with a bomb shell.
The move also seemed to upset Iguodala and his camp, as Charania continued to tweet:
Iguodala is VP of NBPA, one of league’s most respected and desires a contender at this stage. Young, rebuilding Grizzlies received a valuable 2024 1st from Golden State in Iguodala trade, and after Dwight Howard buyout, were expected to eventually have same talks with Iguodala. https://t.co/feAQl4Jbv0
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 9, 2019
This seemed to imply a mild rift between the expectations of the Grizzlies front office and Iguodala’s team. However, at that point it was clear that if Iguodala was going to leave Memphis, he was going to do it through a trade.
So teams around the league began preparing, and fans and media members alike waited to watch the no-doubt entertaining sight of his media day performance.
Well….