NBA Finals MVP Andre Iguodala—who helped lead the Golden State Warriors last week to their first championship since 1975—said Thursday he's taking advantage of his proximity to Silicon Valley to capitalize off the court as a tech investor.
"We have some great relationships with VCs [venture capitalists] out there, mainly Andreessen Horowitz. They've kind of taken me under their wing and ... showed me some things in the portfolio and how I can integrate my brand into some of their brands," Iguodala told CNBC's "Squawk Box" in an interview.
Iguodala said he follows Marc Andreessen on Twitter, and that's where he gets most of Andreessen's information. "Ben Horowitz, he's the guy. He's really big into hip-hop, and he's a brainiac. They sit courtside right next to our bench. So I have some conversations with them during the games. [Horowitz] is really the one who helps me out."
Before becoming a free agent and joining the Warriors in 2013, Iguodala said he and his manager got into investing in tech stocks. He started out with names like Facebook, Twitter and Tesla. "Apple was [also] a big one for us. We rode that wave when it was probably around $200, before the split." Apple was trading at $645 a share before last year's 7-for-1 stock split. The stock closed just over $128 on Wednesday—up nearly 40 percent since the split took effect June 6, 2014.
"I'm in as good a situation as any NBA player can be in, being in a championship team and then being in an environment like Silicon Valley, where you can capitalize off the court with business," said Iguodala, whose Warriors play their home games at Oracle Arena, just across the bay from San Francisco.
Off the court, Iguodala is also deeply involved in fashion through his connection with Andreessen Horowitz-backed Twice, an online marketplace for buying and selling secondhand clothing, shoes and handbags. He became the menswear style director for the start-up in March.