Andre Iguodala, Shams Charania Are Talking About Sources

The New York Times' Jonathan Abrams reported this morning that Andre Iguodala would be returning to the Golden State Warriors on a one-year deal, with the intention of finishing a long and storied career with the franchise he helped win three championships. It wasn't the typical transactional scoop, which often comes via a tweeted bomb from the A-list NBA insiders. No, this was a thorough piece, complete with an on-the-record interview with Iguodala.

“Who would have thought I’d have the opportunity to go back to the place where I was able to have, whatever you want to call it, legacy years, in terms of the accomplishments, winning multiple championships, the relationships that I was able to build with some of my closest friends and teammates?” Iguodala said, adding: “The relationship with the fans, the relationship with the Bay, the opportunity to end it here, was just something special.”

These are the types of scoops journalists dream of assembling and rolling out before anyone else find the trail. The good stuff. The type of news break that can come as a result of a strong and trusting relationship between writer and subject. Iguodala clearly alerted Abrams first and rolled things out this way intentionally.

Twenty-five minutes after the Times posted, Shams Charania, citing a source, also reported Iguodala was returning to the Warriors over fellow finalist Brooklyn. Which drew this response from the player himself.

It's true what they say. Everyone wants to cover sports media. Even former NBA Finals MVPs.

While it's not entirely fair to divine intent here, it is true that nothing riles up a specific type of online nerd (ourselves included) like a good old-fashioned attribution battle. When one breaks out there siren song can be heard from parents' basements from Sacramento to Savannah. Sources say.