Warriors’ Steve Kerr: Andre Iguodala’s status for playoffs ‘up in the air’

SAN FRANCISCO — While a return for the playoffs hasn’t officially been ruled out, Andre Iguodala’s status for the rest of the playoffs remains “up in the air,” coach Steve Kerr said Thursday.

A neck injury has sidelined Iguodala for more than three weeks. Asked whether he could return this postseason, Kerr said, “At this point, I think everything is just up in the air. I don’t have expectations either way.”

Iguodala was scheduled to be reevaluated Thursday, but the Warriors haven’t released an official update on the 18-year veteran as of 2:30 p.m. He’s missed nine of the Warriors’ last 11 playoff games.

The Warriors signed Iguodala last offseason to a one-year deal giving him an opportunity to end his career with the franchise. Golden State knew Iguodala wasn’t the same player he was during his first run with the team from 2013-2019, but the Warriors saw his value as a defender and as a backup playmaker.

Injuries hampered Iguodala throughout the regular season, limiting him to just 31 games.

Though Iguodala isn’t able to make a direct impact on the court, the 38-year-old is still providing tremendous value to the Warriors. He’s a valuable voice in the locker room and during games, with Kerr calling him an additional assistant coach. He also serves as a mentor to the younger players, like Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody, and provides real-time advice to players on what adjustments they can make during games.

“He’s actually guarded all these guys that we’re going to face and as a coach, we can draw something on the board and say, ‘Hey, this is going to be our scheme.’ Andre can go directly to our guys and say, ‘When I guarded [Luka] Dončić, when I guarded [Jalen] Brunson, this is their tendency, this is what I think could help you,’” Kerr said. “That kind of hands-on advice, player-to-player is really important.”