Andre Iguodala spent nearly two decades in the NBA, but he still retired a lot sooner than your average Joe does. Iguodala walked away from the game at the age of 39 after 19 seasons, and during an interview with HoopsHype, he was asked about retirement having a big impact on a player’s mental health.
“Yeah,” Iguodala said. “All the way around, and I think the more money you made it hits you more, because it feels like the thing that brought you to those heights has happened so fast. Other careers are more gradual. People retiring at 59 and a half, it’s the retirement, your 401K starts kicking in, and you can kind of go into the sunset.
“Here it’s like 32,” Iguodala stated. “You’re a kid. It’s like there was no plan B, there was no plan C. It was only one plan A, and that’s why I made it. But then you realize how it can be a curse. It’s a gift and a curse because you only have one plan to just put your brain in that place to even think you’re crazy enough that you can do it, and then you do it, but then it’s gone so fast, and then you’re like, ‘Now what do I do?’
“What I’ve learned is that all those skillsets can translate to other things, but we haven’t set it up so we can have that understanding that what we’re equipped with can translate to anything,” Iguodala continued. And I think our guys are getting smarter, which is amazing. They’re getting smarter. But there is still that ‘We kind of live in a fantasy world.’
“Sometimes we don’t realize it, and so that’s why it feels like a fall from grace because it’s almost like a fantasy,” Iguodala added. “I read like 200 emails a day, and I have to respond to them, so just trying to build those muscles while you’re still playing is great. I think reading is probably the most important thing. If you can get yourself to read a book a month or find an interest, I tell guys all the time, like watch Bloomberg, watch CNBC, learn another language.”
Iguodala is currently reading a book titled Underground Airlines by Ben Winters. It’s a fictional work on what if slavery existed today. Iguodala, Executive Director of the National Basketball Players Association, wants players to gain as much knowledge as possible and sharpen their minds. He added it would help their games as well.
Iguodala also mentioned in this interview that his investment portfolio is doing well, and he does seem to fall into the category of former players who are thriving after retirement. He was an early investor in successful tech firms such as Zoom, and after retiring in 2023, started running Mosaic, a $200 million venture capital fund that he raised.
There is no doubt that Iguodala is a great example to follow on how to tackle life after retirement. He has dished out important advice for young athletes over the years as well, and there is a reason why the four-time NBA champion is held in such high regard by players.
