Warriors forward Andre Iguodala on his participation in the ‘Quest for Sleep’ documentary, educating people on the benefits of rest.
When Andre Iguodala was younger, sleep wasn’t something that he had to worry about. The veteran Golden State Warriors small forward would wake up and go through his routine of working out, getting shots up in the gym, and watching film of opponents with the thought of rest never crossing his mind. As he got older, that changed.
“We spend so much time consuming content that is activating endorphins and getting us to continue to scroll up or down and press like buttons [that] we don’t take enough time to understand the effects that come from stimulating content,” Iguodala told Boardroom. “There is power in learning how the mind works. And this gives us the opportunity to understand how rest and recovery has its dividends to it as well. There are financial benefits to getting the proper recovery.”
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Iguodala is one of the many voices in The Quest for Sleep, an Osmosis Films documentary officially described as following “real characters whose struggles with sleep threaten to unravel their waking lives.” The documentary also features Olympic runner Emma Coburn, sleep experts and specialists, a magazine editor, a nurse, a retired U.S. military commander, and more. Executive produced by Michael A Moye, Christie Anbar, James Lawler and Josh Adler, the doc is tied together by “the character of ‘Sleep,'” narrated by Oscar winner Octavia Spencer, who “leads the audience to experts who illuminate the science behind how we sleep and what keeps us awake.”
The film is designed to show that people from all walks of life have struggled equally with getting rest. It will also feature visuals with 2D and 3D animation used to showcase sleep patterns.
“I’ve had a lot of conversations about the perception of sleep throughout the years,” Iguodala said. “One of the main ones in our [NBA] community was that if you sleep, someone else is outworking you or sleep is the cousin of death. There are all these misconceptions around sleep, and we are trying to put those to bed.”
The three-time NBA champion explained to Boardroom that as he has gotten older, sleep has been a struggle. At one point in time, he would sweat so much in his sleep that his shirt would look like he jumped into a pool — causing him to have to change clothes in the middle of the night.
“Once you start getting into the second half of your career as a professional athlete, you start thinking about how you can be more efficient,” the 38-year-old said. “When your physical attributes start to decline, you start thinking of ways you can keep up.”
“This documentary was a very inspiring piece because I have so many moving parts,” he continued. “I’ve been diagnosed with exhaustion and not being able to juggle everything I would like because I’m taking on too much. Between life and work and figuring things out, it’s a constant struggle. This is at the forefront of everything I’m trying to do, which is find balance.”
Outside of the documentary, Iguodala claims he is fully prepared for life after basketball when the time comes. His current contract expires after this season.
Iguodala already penned his best-selling memoir The Sixth Man and invested in multiple tech companies, such as Robinhood, Zoom, Coinbase, Adwords, Onward, and Marquetta.
“We are full speed ahead,” Iguodala said. “The business side is continuing to grow. There is a ton of news coming out. I have about four or five projects that I’m working on. But most of all, it’s about the family. I always speak on it last, but it comes first because that is who you do it for.”
The Quest for Sleep is playing in select theaters and will have an encore YouTube presentation on Thursday beginning at 8 p.m. EST.
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