CLEVELAND — Andre Iguodala was more than just a key player on a team that beat LeBron James and Cleveland.

Turns out he used to beat up on Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

“We beat the first unit more times than they beat us, and I think it was by a landslide,” Iguodala said.

So good, so deep that the MVP of the NBA Finals never started a game all season, the Warriors built the kind of squad that can compete for many NBA titles.

And when they were in trouble trying to win this one, down 2-1 in the series, they inserted Iguodala into the lineup. He responded with the same defensive effort he had been providing against James along with unexpected offense, including 25 points Tuesday in the Game 6 clincher.

“He was great the entire series. But he saved this season for us,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said. “I always say Andre’s a pro’s pro. He’s a professional guy, and it showed, and that’s why he’s the MVP of this series, and that’s why we’re champions.”

One of the reasons, anyway.

There’s also Curry, the regular-season MVP who delivered a couple of big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter that helped the Warriors build a big enough lead to withstand Cleveland’s late comeback. And there was Green, the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up who bounced back from a poor start to the series to finish with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists Tuesday.

Throw in 10 points apiece off the bench from Shaun Livingston and Festus Ezeli, or David Lee re-emerging earlier in the series after falling out of the rotation, and the Warriors still had plenty of firepower off the bench even once Iguodala was no longer part of it.

Iguodala was the primary defender on James, but as James said, “It’s never 1-on-1.”

Iguodala was a former No. 1 option in Philadelphia who won gold with the U.S. Olympic team in 2012. Lee has made multiple All-Star teams. Livingston is a one-time No. 4 pick in the draft who has become a valuable and versatile player after overcoming a devastating knee injury earlier in his career.

The Warriors are good enough to do it again, provided they keep Green and Harrison Barnes once they are eligible for free agency, and if they can find a way to overcome the rugged Western Conference. Plenty of teams that looked great one year couldn’t do it the next on the stronger side of the NBA bracket.